According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW for short), the depleted units of a US think tank, private security and military company Gruppe Wagner, that have suffered heavy casualties are being replaced by regular Russian troops to advance the offensive on Bachmut. . Since the capture of Soledar, the soldiers of the Wagner Group have made no significant territorial gains there.
Video footage released Jan. 20 shows Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) operating near Bakhmut, ISW said. The footage also shows a BMD-4M airborne tank used only by regular Russian airborne units. For the Washington-based think tank, this is an indication that conventional troops need to supplement or even replace the weakened Wagner mercenaries.
Suffers heavy losses since autumn
The Wagner Group has been suffering heavy losses around Bachmut since the fall of 2022. A US official who wished to remain anonymous said on January 5 that more than 4,100 of their fighters were killed and 10,000 others wounded. Between the end of November and the beginning of December 2022 alone, the private mercenaries suffered more than 1,000 casualties.
Up-to-date Maxar satellite images also show that losses among the Wagner mercenaries are high. They show a rapidly expanding cemetery in a southern Russian village where mercenaries from the infamous group are buried. Just under 10,000 of the original 50,000 fighters remain, the NGO “Rus Sidyaschshaya” (Russia behind bars) reported. The rest are probably killed, missing, surrendered or abandoned.
Hired mercenaries in prisons
The Wagner Group is owned by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, also known as “Putin’s cook” because of his good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He recruited thousands of prisoners in Russian prisons. He promised their release at the end of their contract, but at the same time threatened deserters with summary execution if they tried to flee or surrender to the enemy.
Source: Krone
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