The notorious army mercenaries From the Wagner group to which Putin belongs he stumbles, and this is another blow to the Kremlin on the Ukrainian front.
One problem after another is emerging in Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, where the latest information on the front shows that even the elite paramilitary group that unofficially conducted all of Moscow’s special operations in recent years has suffered huge losses.
This came according to the latest CNN report, which obtained information in Ukraine, on the ground, as well as through an interview with a former military commander of the notorious mercenary organization, which today has become
He is seeking asylum in Europe.
Putin’s mercenaries for the toughest tasks
The Wagner Group has been gaining worldwide fame for several years.
Since its creation in 2014, the Wagner Group has been widely viewed by analysts as a private military company subject to Kremlin sanctions, whose fighters fought in Ukraine during the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea, as well as in Syria, as well as several African countries such as Sudan and Libya Mozambique, Mali and the Central African Republic.
As mentioned in CNNIts military operations have often been the key to Russian control of lucrative resources, from Sudanese gold to Syrian oil.
Says Marat Gabidulin, former commander of the Wagner Group and head of the 95 Mercenaries Party in Syria.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleks Reznikov told CNN that Kremlin mercenary forces are being deployed to “the most difficult and important missions” in Ukraine, and are playing a key role in Russia’s victories in Mariupol and Kherson.
Limited official information about Wagner and the Kremlin’s longstanding denials of its existence and ties to the Russian state bolstered its reputation and appeal, while helping the group conceal its precise capabilities and activities.
However, Wagner is actually in Ukraine, according to video testimony of mercenary fighters he witnessed CNN.
The Importance of Experience for $5000
More than seven months of fighting have shed light on the failures of Russia’s military performance in Ukraine.
Gabidulin, who left the group in 2019 and has since published his memoirs – as a mercenary – says there are two factors that distinguish mercenaries from regular Russian forces: one is money and the other is experience.
Mercenaries can earn up to $5,000 per month plus bonuses for every contribution in the field (destroying tanks, units, etc.).
“The backbone of these groups has always consisted of people with great experience, and they have gone through many wars anyway,” he explained. He said several key members of the group may, like him, have previously fought in Ukraine as well as Syria, gaining valuable combat experience that most Russian forces lack.
They have more and more substantial experience than the military. The army is young soldiers forced to sign a contract and they have no experience.
This is what makes such paramilitary forces in Ukraine, of which Wagner is only one, so valuable to Russia.
The strength of the Russian army is a legend
According to Gabidulin, “the Russian army cannot handle the war without mercenaries,” adding that “there is a very big myth, and a very big confusion about the ‘strong’ Russian army.”
Andrei Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency, which monitors the paramilitary group’s activity in Ukraine, told CNN that at least 5,000 mercenaries linked to the Wagner Group are working with Russian forces in Ukraine today. This number was also reported by a French intelligence source, who indicated that some Wagner fighters had left the African continent to strengthen efforts in Ukraine.
Jobs opened at Wagner due to losses
“Wagner has suffered heavy losses in Ukraine, especially among young and inexperienced fighters,” a senior US defense source said in September, amid increasing reports of equipment shortages.
Billboards calling for new recruits appeared in Russia’s mercenary army. Now, the group’s recruitment efforts are leading to a turnaround from its past of heavy secrecy.
Even Putin’s ally, Yevgeny Prigozhin, finally acknowledged his role as the group’s leader in late September, after spending years trying to distance himself from the mercenary group through repeated denials, even taking Russian media investigating him at trial.
Contrary to the group’s image as an elite military organization, one recruiter made one confession about the recruits when contacted by a CNN reporter: No military experience needed.
The letter ended with a code word, “Morgan,” which applicants were to enter at the gate of the group’s facility in Krasnodar, Russia.
In September, a video appeared showing Prigozhin recruiting prisoners from Russian prisons.
Mercenaries in Ukraine are also in despair
Gambidolin, the former Wagner team boss, described the recruitment drive as “a desperate business.”
Gabidulin, who says that he talks to his old comrades almost daily, explained that there is a lot of frustration even among the mercenaries and this is due to their dissatisfaction “with the general organization of battles: the inability of the Russian leadership. To make correct decisions and organize battles.”
In one of the many videos broadcast from the front lines in Ukraine, the grim reality of the war on Wagner is clearly visible in footage provided to CNN, which is said to show the group’s operations.
In one scene, a fallen mercenary from the Wagner group lies dead. All around him, on the battlefield, burned corpses and the wreckage of their charred armor. You hear occasional shots through the smoke.
“Sorry, brother, sorry,” said one of the mercenaries, patting his back after taking off the dead man’s shirt. “Let’s get out of here, if they shoot us, we’ll lie next to him,” he told his colleague as he left.
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