The Wagner Group in Ukraine: never back down, never give up and ruthless

The fighters of the Wagner group became “expendable infantry of the Russian offensive in eastern Russia.” Ukraine”who never backs down, never gives up and acts among his own “ruthlessly”, according to a Ukrainian intelligence report published CNN.

Group Wagner mercenariesled by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, has become very visible on the Ukrainian front in recent weeks and is always quick to take credit for the success of Russian offensives, the network recalls, always quoting intelligence reports.

A December 2022 document concludes that Wagner poses a unique threat, despite suffering massive casualties: “The deaths of thousands of soldiers from Wagner it does not matter to Russian society,” the report says.

“Assault groups do not retreat without an order … Unauthorized withdrawal of a group or without injury is punishable by execution on the spot,” the document says.

Eavesdropping received by the security source Ukrainian intelligence and shared with CNN they also indicate a ruthless attitude on the battlefield. In one of them, a soldier is heard talking about another who tried to surrender to the Ukrainians and whom they cracked down on.

The wounded soldiers of Wagner they often stay on the battlefield for hours. “Assault infantry cannot independently take out the wounded from the battlefield, since their main task is to continue the assault until the goal is reached. If the assault fails, a retreat is allowed, but only at night.

Ukrainians believe that the tactics of mercenaries Wagner “They are the only ones effective against the poorly trained mobilized troops that make up the majority of Russia’s ground forces.” And they suggest that the Russian military may even adapt its tactics to become more like this group.

Prisoners recruited as mercenaries

Russian convicts, tens of thousands of whom were called up for military service. WagnerThey often form the first wave of attacks and suffer the heaviest casualties, up to 80 percent of them, according to Ukrainian officials.

They are followed by more experienced fighters with thermal imagers and night vision devices.

Russian prisoner rights organization Rus Sitting (RS) said on Monday that some 40,000 prisoners recruited by a group of mercenaries Wagner were killed, deserted, wounded or imprisoned in Ukraine.

“About 10,000[convicts]are fighting at the front, the rest are killed, wounded, missing, deserted or surrendered,” RS director Olga Romanova told the My Russian Rights portal.

For its part, the United States announced last Friday that it would impose new sanctions against Wagner for participating in the conflict in Ukraine and will declare it a “transnational criminal organization.”

The Kremlin, for its part, downplayed the US sanctions and assured them that they would not change anything “on a practical level.”

and the boss Wagner groupYevgeny Prigozhin reacted to the US statement over the weekend, saying that “finally, Wagner and the US will be our colleagues.” “From now on, our relationship can be defined as “disputes between criminal clans,” he said (according to EFE).