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☆ Putin's top troops are being 'decimated' as Russia relies too much on so-called 'elite' forces to wage war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Several so-called "elite" Russian units have suffered heavy casualties on the battlefield in Ukraine. The 155th is only the latest so-called "elite" Russian unit to face serious setbacks on the battlefield. An abandoned Russian military tank left in the Ukrainian city of Balakliia after Russian Forces withdrew from the Kharkiv region on September 15, 2022. So I think it's much more of a blow to Russia's ground force's combat power than it is to their reputations." Russia's military leadership has at times faced criticism and even domestic outrage over its decision-making.

☆ Ukraine Counters Wagner’s Claims of Advances Near Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Matthew Luxmoore | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kyiv on Sunday countered Russian claims to have taken further territory around Bakhmut as Russia seeks to surround the eastern city that Ukraine’s military has defended against withering onslaughts for months. The Wagner Group paramilitary force fighting alongside Russia’s regular army in Ukraine said on Saturday that it had secured control of Yahidne to the northwest of Bakhmut. The press service of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin posted an image appearing to show Wagner fighters beside a sign marking the entrance to the village, and Mr. Prigozhin confirmed the village had been taken.

☆ Russia's Prigozhin says Wagner fighters capture Ukrainian village near Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said forces of his Wagner group had captured the village of Yahidne, just north of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on Saturday. "At 1900 on 25th February, storm units of the Wagner private military company secured complete control of the locality of Yagodnoye (Yahidne) to the north of Bakhmut," Prigozhin said in the clip. A day earlier, he said Wagner had taken control of Berkhivka, another village on the outskirts of Bakhmut. The months-long struggle for Bakhmut has seen some of the bloodiest attritional fighting of Russia's year-old invasion of Ukraine. Wagner units have suffered heavy losses, prompting Prigozhin to complain bitterly that the Russian defence establishment has failed to properly acknowledge their contribution.

☆ Brawling with elite, Russian mercenary boss wishes politician shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"During the 1941-45 war, which is now being repeated, Stalin simply shot people like you. I think we're going to return to those times soon," he told Sverdlovsk governor Yevgeny Kuivashev, according to his press service. Earlier this week, he accused various regional governors of refusing to bury Wagner fighters with military honours, labelling them as lawless, corrupt bureaucrats. From eastern Ukraine, Prigozhin replied that he had stopped being a businessman a year ago and was now devoting his life to leading his fighters. "There is a ceiling (of growth) and mechanisms in place," said the source, who declined to provide more details.

☆ Wagner boss drops gruesome photo of war dead while blasting top Russian military leaders for getting them killed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who founded the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, shared a graphic photograph of dead Russian mercenaries earlier this week and criticized the country's military leadership for getting them killed. Prigozhin shared the gruesome image, which shows dozens of corpses placed in multiple rows on the ground, to his Telegram channel on Tuesday. Russia's defense ministry denied the claims and said any statements about munitions shortages are "absolutely untrue," Russian state media TASS reported. A pedestrian walks past a mural depicting the logo of the Russian mercenary 'Group Wagner' and a slogan in Russian on January 20, 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. "Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries."

☆ Russian officials are denying ammunition to Wagner fighters - group founder
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, accused unspecified officials of deliberately denying his fighters sufficient ammunition as part of an ongoing rivalry between himself and parts of the Russian elite. Prigozhin said Russia's military production was now sufficient to supply the forces fighting at the front, and that the supply difficulties his fighters were experiencing were the result of conscious decisions. "Those who interfere with us trying to win this war are absolutely, directly working for the enemy", he said. The White House said last week that the Wagner Group had suffered more than 30,000 casualties since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with about 9,000 of those killed in action. Some 90% of those killed in Ukraine since December were convicts, it said, a reference to Prigozhin's recruitment of prisoners to fight.

☆ 30,000 Wagner Group fighters have been killed or injured in Putin's invasion of Ukraine, says White House spokesman
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

More than 30,000 Wagner Group fighters have been killed or injured, according to US officials. John Kirby said that half of the Wagner fighters who perished in the war have died since mid-December. Kirby stated that, according to US intelligence, 90% of the Wagner Group soldiers killed in the last two and a half months were convicts. While the Wagner Group has made limited advances in Bakhmut, Kirby said this gain has come at a "devastating cost that is not sustainable." According to British intelligence, 40-60,000 Russian soldiers and Wagner Group fighters have been killed since February 2022.

☆ How Putin's Russian goon squad used Mexican gig workers to troll an American election
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Posting to social media sounded like an easy work-from-home gig, so he applied. This post from the Prigozhin-backed Social CMS network in Mexico referred to America as "we." He verified his account by providing chat transcripts, screenshots, contracts, and internal company documents. But just because Social CMS didn't yield an immediate, large-scale impact doesn't mean it should be ignored. "I didn't know who are you," wrote the person who is listed in the corporate directory as Prigozhin's media liaison.

☆ Ukraine war: major developments since Russia's invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Following are some of the major developments in Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two. Russian forces made slow, steady gains in a phase of the conflict that inflicted a heavy toll on both sides. UKRAINE COUNTER-ATTACKSAs the war churned on, the United States and Europe began giving Ukraine increasingly powerful and longer-range weaponry and used sanctions to try to hamper Russia's military machine. In early September, Ukrainian forces reeled off surprising gains in the northeastern Kharkiv region, wresting back the sole rail hub supplying Russia's regional front line. Joyous residents feted the return of Ukrainian forces, though the city remains subject to Russian shelling.

☆ Wagner Group's turn from prison recruitment could be effort to tap soldiers who might balk at 'serving with rapists and murderers,' historian says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Wagner Group, the Russian paramilitary organization, has stopped recruiting prisoners for the war. An expert in Russian history told Insider the move could be an attempt to recruit more competent fighters. "It was people deciding they would take their chances dying in Ukraine as opposed to dying in a Russian prison." While Prigozhin's quest for influence is well-documented, it's also entirely possible that Wagner ceased its prison recruitment efforts simply because the well had run dry, Miles said. The group could look to other war-torn countries where experienced soldiers might fight for pay, Miles said.

☆ Russia’s Wagner Deepens Influence in Africa, Helping Putin Project Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Benoit Faucon | Joe Parkinson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As Wagner fighters play a central role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Russian mercenary group is quietly expanding its alliances in Africa, say European officials, penetrating new mineral-rich areas, exploiting the exit of Western powers and creating alliances with local fighters. Wagner fighters and instructors are working with the government of the Central African Republic in a bid to seize areas rich with precious minerals that could be exported through Sudan, say Western security officials. Wagner is also looking to expand its influence in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, while consolidating its relationship with the military junta in Mali.

☆ Wagner founder Prigozhin says Russian forces take Ukraine village Krasna Hora, north of Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's Wagner Group, said on Sunday that the mercenary force had taken the village of Krasna Hora on the northern edge of the embattled Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Bakhmut, a city in the eastern Donetsk region, has been the scene of brutal warfare for months. Kyiv's top military commander, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Saturday that Ukraine continues to hold Bakhmut, trying to "stabilise" the frontline around it. Prigozhin also published a short video, apparently showing Wagner fighters at the entrance sign to Krasna Hora, which had a pre-war population of 600. Prigozhin has previously engaged in public feuds with Russia's Defence Ministry, which he has accused of taking credit for Wagner successes.

☆ A captured member of the infamous Wagner Group said he is more 'afraid of Putin' than dying in battle, Ukrainian soldier reveals
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A captured Russian soldier said he is more afraid of Vladimir Putin than he is of dying in battle. "We're afraid of Putin," a Ukrainian solder recalled the man saying. The Ukrainian solder said the man joined Russia's Wagner Group to expunge his criminal record. In an audio recording reviewed by CNN of the Ukrainian soldier questioning the Russian prisoner, Andriy told the man: "Obviously, you know that you will be killed [in battle.] "Yes, this is true," the Ukrainian soldier named Andriy recalled the man replying.

☆ Wagner troops wouldn't 'stop coming' and climbed over bodies of dead comrades like something out of a 'zombie movie,' says Ukrainian soldier
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Ukrainian soldier compared fighting Russia's Wagner Group to something like a "zombie movie." "They're climbing above the corpse of their friends, stepping on them," the soldier told CNN. He said the fight was between 20 Ukrainian soldiers and about 200 Wagner troops and described it as a "frightening and surreal experience." He even suggested that the Wagner troops might be "getting some drugs before the attack." The soldier said his group's AK-47 rifles became so hot from constantly firing at the Wagner troops that they had to keep switching out guns.

☆ A Russian graveyard reveals Wagner’s prisoner army
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +18 min

The resting places were adorned with simple wooden crosses and brightly coloured wreaths that bore the insignia of Russia’s Wagner Group - a feared and secretive private army. The news agency matched the names of at least 39 of the dead here and at three other nearby cemeteries to Russian court records, publicly available databases and social media accounts. He said gravediggers told him the bodies had come from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, close to Russia’s border with Donetsk region. According to Russian court documents, Kochas and another man burst into the apartment of an acquaintance while drunk in an attempted robbery. But he refused, so he’s a fool.”A Russian graveyard reveals Wagner’s prisoner army By Felix Light and Filipp Lebedev in Tbilisi and Reade Levinson in London Photo editing: Simon Newman Graphics: Fielding Cage Art direction: Eve Watling Edited by Janet McBride

☆ The US is taking aim at Wagner, the only Russian force seemingly having any success in Ukraine, with crippling sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The US government has taken aim at the notorious Wagner Group with sweeping new sanctions. A pedestrian walks past a mural depicting the logo of the Russian mercenary 'Group Wagner' and a slogan in Russian on January 20, 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty ImagesA defaced mural of Russia's mercenary group Wagner reading "Wagner Group - Russian knights" on the side wall of an apartment bock in Belgrade on January 20, 2023. Wagner's prominence in Ukraine has been underscored by rifts between the mercenary group and the regular Russian military. "Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries."

☆ Putin's favorite mercenary leader may be preparing to justify a failure in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A rivalry between Russia's military and Wagner Group mercenaries has come to the fore in Ukraine. Indeed, with curses and excuses, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group and President Vladimir Putin's favorite mercenary leader, may be preparing to justify a failure in one of the fiercest battles of the war: Bakhmut. Rivalry exposedA mural in Belgrade that praises the Wagner group and its mercenaries fighting in Ukraine. Prigozhin was quick to criticize them — another instance of the mercenary leader's long-running challenge to Russia's military leadership. But with tens of thousands of fighters in Ukraine, Prigozhin doesn't seem phased.

☆ Putin's desperate for a win, and he's throwing troops at some of Ukraine's toughest defenses to get it, former general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Intense fighting between Ukraine and Russia has been taking place around the eastern city of Bakhmut. Putin has been sending troops into some of Ukraine's most heavily defended areas, a former general said. Mick Ryan argues the Russian leader is trying to get a win before the war's one-year anniversary. Fighting between Ukraine and Russia has intensified in recent weeks around Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. Ukrainian soldiers shelter in the woods along a road outside of the strategic city of Bakhmut on January 18, 2023 in Bakhmut, Ukraine.

☆ Wagner chief Prigozhin attacks Putin administration over failure to block YouTube
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 18 (Reuters) - The increasingly prominent head of the Russian private military group Wagner on Wednesday took aim at the Kremlin administration for failing to block the U.S.-owned video sharing platform YouTube. Prigozhin publicly complained of attempts to minimise Wagner's role and belittle its achievements, and the ministry later issued an update praising the "courageous and selfless actions" of Wagner fighters. With around 90 million monthly users in Russia, YouTube, like Google a unit of Alphabet (GOOGL.O), is extremely popular and plays an important role in the digital economy. Though Russia has domestic versions of other social media, a viable YouTube alternative on that scale is yet to emerge. Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Mark TrevelyanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Drone footage shows Ukrainian forces trapping fighters from Russia's Wagner Group in a lethal crossfire
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Drone footage shows the Ukrainian troops annihilating a unit of Wagner fighters in Soledar. The video shows soldiers — who the State Border Service of Ukraine identified as Wagner Group fighters — being monitored by a drone. The soldiers then come under fire from Ukrainian fighters using large-caliber machine guns, resulting in a number of injuries, according to the border force. In a Telegram post, the State Border Service of Ukraine described the events. "Although the enemy has concentrated its greatest forces in this direction, our troops – the Armed Forces of Ukraine, all defense and security forces – are defending the state."

☆ Russia claims control of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, its first victory in months
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Patrick Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Russian forces on the frontline of the bitter fight for control of eastern Ukraine have claimed their first victory in several months of grinding conflict. After some of the war's most intense combat, Russia now controls the mining town of Soledar in the Donetsk region, Moscow's defense ministry said Friday. He had claimed victory in Soledar earlier this week and boasted on social media that his forces were in sole charge of the town. Wagner mercenary group fighters in a photo said to be in Soledar and released Wednesday. The town lies in the eastern Donetsk region, one of four that Putin claimed to have annexed last year despite failing to fully control.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, center, with soldiers in what they said was a salt mine in Soledar, Ukraine in this image released on Jan. 11. By contrast, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed that Soledar had fallen to Russian forces or mentioned the Wagner group’s involvement in attempts to take it. Russia has consistently denied the involvement of the Wagner Group in its official military operations. Prigozhin during the funeral of Wagner group fighter near St. Petersburg, on Christmas Eve. To date, the hawks have been far louder than the pragmatists, and a chorus of hard-right bloggers have excoriated Russia’s military performance, while television pundits have called for a tougher approach.

☆ A man who beat his own mother to death got a hero's burial in Russia after he signed up to fight in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Wagner Group fighter was buried with military honors in Russia last week, The Insider reported. He joined the infamous group while serving a murder sentence in a Russian penal colony. Sergei Molodtsov, 46, was buried with military honors in Serov, Russia, last Thursday after he was killed fighting in Ukraine, reported The Insider, a Latvia-based online publication that is not affiliated with Insider. He drunkenly beat his elderly mother to death, breaking her jaw, shoulder, face, and head, according to a 2017 conviction verdict, E1 reported. Footage released earlier this month reported to show Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin freeing the first batch of two dozen former convicts sent to fight in Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Conflicting reports on whether strategic town has been captured by Russians; Kyiv says its forces are holding out
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The best fighters from Russia's paramilitary group, known as the Wagner Group, have been deployed to fight in Soledar in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have made tactical gains in recent days. Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine's eastern forces, told local TV channel 24 that Russian forces were deploying their best Wagner fighters at Soledar, which had been struck 86 times by artillery over the past 24 hours. The Wagner Group is a private military company whose forces are fighting alongside Russia's standard military units. Wagner fighters have been privately recruited and the group is estimated to be around 50,000-men strong. Some Wagner fighters have reportedly already received pardons having fulfilled their military contracts.

☆ Russia's infamous Wagner Group is throwing prisoners who 'have nothing to lose' on the frontlines, Ukrainian advisor says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's Wagner Group is sending prisoners who "have nothing to lose" to the frontlines, according to Politico. The prisoners have been shoved to the forefront of the fighting in the war-torn Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The Wagner Group — which has close ties to the Kremlin — has fought alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. Moscow's reliance on the Wagner Group in Ukraine is indicative of the serious manpower issues facing the Russian military. The Russian military is also running low on munitions, which Western officials have said will make it difficult to successfully conduct ground operations.

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