Ukraine, Wagner’s group lacks men and means “remote controls” detainees

Night of Russian attacks on Ukraine. Two explosions were recorded in Kiev causing two injuries. As reported by the governor of the Kiev region Oleksiy Kuleba on Telegram, infrastructure and private homes were damaged as a result of the attack. “Those affected are being helped. They are under the supervision of doctors.” The Ukrainian air force announced that it shot down 30 of the 35 drones launched by Russian forces overnight. The Shahed-136/131-kamikaze drones would have been launched from the east coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, according to the same source.

Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defense released the latest intelligence report, according to which the Wagner group, a mercenary company deployed on the ground in Ukraine, continues to play a leading role in the fighting in Donetsk. The group developed offensive tactics to take advantage of the large number of prisoners it recruited. The Wagner group, the report says, “continues to play an important role in the war of attrition around the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast. In recent months, it has developed offensive tactics to exploit the large numbers of poorly trained inmates it has recruited. Individual combatants would be provided with a smartphone or tablet that would indicate to the owner the established line of advance and objective, superimposed on commercial satellite images.” “At platoon level and above, commanders are likely to remain in cover and issue orders by radio, informed by video feeds from small drones,” continues British intelligence in its report.

“Individuals and sections – it continues – are ordered to follow the planned route, often under cover of fire, more rarely alongside armored vehicles. Wagner agents who deviate from their assault routes without authorization risk summary execution.” “These brutal tactics – he comments in conclusion – aim to preserve the rare resources that the group has at the level of experienced commanders and armored vehicles, to the detriment of the more readily available prisoner recruits and that the organization considers expendable”.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in Belarus today to meet President Alexander Lukashenko. This is the first visit of the President of the Russian Federation to Belarus since 2019. For the commander of the Ukrainian forces, Serhiy Nayev, the talks will certainly serve to discuss “a new aggression against Ukraine and a greater involvement of the Belarusian armed forces in the operation, in particularly, in our opinion, also on the ground”.