Former mercenaries of the Wagner group were expected to appear on one of the parts of the Russian-Ukrainian front. Their presence is mentioned by both sides in the conflict.
Ukrainian military commentator Oleksandr Kovalenko reported that, according to information from the army, mercenaries from the Wagner Group are again at the front.
Wagner Group mercenaries at the front?
Former fighters from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private group are said to form the majority of the “Burza” units. Their presence was registered in the Kupyansk region of the Kharkov region.
According to Kovalenko, after the death of the commanders of the Wagner group, including Yevgeny Prigozhin, who most likely died on the orders of the highest authorities of the Kremlin, the Russian Defense Ministry was able to almost completely subdue the Wagnerians. Some of them would sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of National Defense and re-enlist in the armed forces.
Reports about the presence of former mercenaries of the Wagner Group in the combat zone may be true, especially since they were reported by the commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces, General Oleksandr Syrski.
“In the direction of Kupiańska, units consisting of former prisoners are used to attack Ukrainian positions. The presence of former so-called Wagnerians is being recorded, who are also joining the ‘Burza’ units,” he wrote on social media.
The Wagnerians’ return to the front would also be announced in the Russian media.
Recruiting Wagnerians
As the Ukrainian website Suspilne reported in October, citing Russian media, the Wagner Group is currently signing contracts with people between the ages of 20 and 55. The amount of compensation will depend on where the mercenary is sent.
The payout is expected to be between PLN 80,000. rubles and 240 thousand rubles (from about PLN 3.6 thousand to about PLN 10.8 thousand). One of the Wagnerians also reportedly told Russian media that the emphasis was now on recruiting ordinary citizens, not prisoners.
A long war
The war in Ukraine has been going on for 651 days. Currently, the heaviest fighting is taking place in the vicinity of Avdiivka, Marinka and Bakhmut. It was in the latter city that the Wagnerite presence was most visible.
According to The Economist, Vladimir Putin’s victory is possible because it depends on endurance, not on the conquest of territory, as recalled in a recent article on the military situation. The confrontation in Ukraine has long turned into a war of positions, and according to US analysts “it could last for many years”.
Since the end of March 2022, when Russian troops withdrew from the northern front after the failure of the campaign in the Kiev region, the front line took shape with minor changes in the southern and eastern directions. The Russians stopped the maneuvers and switched to a material positional war aimed at exhausting the enemy. They also tried to occupy the entire Donbas, which failed.
The Ukrainians, in turn, tried to recapture part of the occupied territories, but the offensive operation in Zaporozhye launched in June ended in failure.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
