Posted on 03/22/2023 5:49:16 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Time may be running out for the Russian private military company, the Wagner Group. Most of the mercenaries fighting for Wagner are about to go home, and what fighters do remain could soon be cut off from the rest of Russia’s armed forces.
Last fall, Wagner recruited heavily in Russian prisons to bolster its ranks. Wagner fighters were credited with taking Soledar and are now the tip of the spear in Russia’s attack on the city of Bakhmut.
The United States and United Kingdom both told the Ukrainian military it should strategically withdraw from the city in the country’s eastern Donbas region, saying it was of little strategic importance. However, as long as Russia commits a large portion of its forces to try and take the city, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s committing troops to its defense.
Wagner is using what are known as “human wave” attacks. A retired U.S. General told Newsweek that essentially the poorly trained mercenaries are sent en masse to the battlefield to help locate Ukrainian soldiers. Then Russia’s professional military forces can come in behind to conduct more precise attacks. The Battle for Bakhmut is now the war’s bloodiest. Of the 40,000 estimated convicts Wagner employed, around half of them are estimated to have either been killed or wounded in what Russians call “the meat grinder.”
Complicating matters for Wagner’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, most of the surviving convicts he recruited to fight are nearing the end of their six-month contracts. They will soon be pardoned and allowed to return to Russian society.
Not only will the pardons severely constrict Wagner’s impact on the battlefield, but the British Ministry of Defense said the sudden influx of violent offenders with recent and traumatic combat experience will likely present a “significant challenge for Russia’s war-time society.”
Prigozhin and Wagner were barred earlier this year from recruiting prisoners. So, the private military company is now looking for future soldiers of fortune through online campaigns and campus visits to Russian high schools. But Prigozhin might be hurting his own recruiting efforts.
In a letter published March 20, Prigozhin told Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, Ukraine was planning to launch a large-scale attack in late March or early April. Prigozhin said the maneuver would cut off Wagner forces from the rest of Russia’s military. Prigozhin didn’t offer any evidence of the impending attack but said if Wagner is cut off, it will lead to negative consequences for what Russia calls its “special military operation.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Lol...try "stuck" forever.
Maybe there'll be some rump state full of Bandera Nazis bordering Poland, but that's it.
Analyzing, synthesizing, thinking it through and figuring it out on your own - not allowed. Reacting to headlines and confirming confirmation bias - required.
What this shows is what is really going on inside the Russian economy and society. If the Russian economy was weathering sanctions, then they would pay their soldiers fighting and dying for the Motherland.
The more news like this comes to light, the more it shows the Russian economy is slowly burning out. In another year or two, the Russian economy will no be able to sustain the war.
oooff...
Curious if these convicts will just be handed letters when they cross the border saying congratulations you are now members for life of Russian army.
Seriously doubt they will be allowed to return to Russia one way or the other
Believe it or not the Russian army doesn’t work that way. They do have laws they follow.
To be a soldier and fight outside the country you have to sign a contract. Now if they do a full mobilization then just being a soldier in the Army can be sent without signing a contract.
Russia is a nation of laws just like most countries. But as we see in America prosecutors can subjectively apply that law based on politics. However, they can’t just make up laws (however, they are trying to do that in America).
Your kidding right? Nation of laws sure can’t say word war, media is govt controlled. Say something bad about military Putin… you are prosecuted
Oh by the way Russia annexed lol the territory they are fighting in so it is “Russia “
Additionally they are already not releasing folks from contracts even volunteers
So send it somewhere else like on a missile into a city center
Ps arnt pmc’a illegal in Russia, yes they are
Laws my ass
Those are laws they passed. And the media is not the law... their media is much like ours.
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