The logo of the Russian Wagner Group.Image: imago images / imagebroker
politics
01/11/2023, 10:54 am01/11/2023, 10:55 am
The news is currently getting confusing again: have Russian Wagner mercenaries conquered the small town of Soledar in the east of the Ukraine taken now, right? Russia spreads allegations of capture, Ukrainian generals deny them.
Meanwhile, military bloggers continue to report on the opaque events at the front – and in the course of this pointed out an interesting detail.
January 8 Smoke billows from shelling in Soledar, scene of heavy fighting.Image: AP / Roman Chop
It’s about a video that is supposed to show two Russian Wagner mercenaries who have apparently already fought their way to the center of Soledar.
Interesting? One of the two fighters is probably wearing a Ukrainian uniform.
Wagner mercenaries want to trick armed forces
The news site Ukraine Defense published a screenshot from this video and wrote: “Wagner mercenary on the right is dressed in the Ukrainian uniform (helmet, balaclava, jacket). Wagner is known for using Ukrainian uniforms to trick the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Military bloggers also published this video and a screenshot from it.
For months, the Wagner Group has been fighting alongside Russian forces for the two cities of Bakhmut and Soledar. Ukraine has held the fort ever since, although for a long time neither side made any significant progress.
But on Tuesday the British secret service also published that Russia was probably slowly gaining ground. Russia then spoke of having almost encircled the city of Bakhmut – on Wednesday night it now claims to have taken Soledar. The small town is around ten kilometers north of Bachmut.
The “Group-Wagner” is primarily associated with torture, rape and murder. She is considered unscrupulous, brutal, murderous. And has already been used in countries such as Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic and Sudan.
It was long considered the “shadow army” of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But since she has been openly fighting for Russia in the battle for the city of Bakhmut for months, even Putin can no longer deny this connection. However, the mercenary group is also struggling with personnel problems, which is why they had already recruited in Russian prisons.
Even if the year 2022 is slowly coming to an end, the war in Ukraine continues. Soldiers on both sides die there every day, as do civilians. Millions of people are fleeing. Get out of Ukraine somewhere safe.
