As of May 20 of this year, 22,000 Wagner veterans had been killed in Russia’s war in Ukraine — about a quarter of the country’s combat forces — according to the Wagner-affiliated Telegraph.
“A total of 78,000 fighters of PMC Wagner took part in the operation in Ukraine,” he said a statement posted on Wednesday on the channel “Wagner Loading”, which seems to be close to the rebel leader of the group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“During the capture of Bakhmut (May 20), 22,000 fighters were killed, 40,000 wounded,” he said.
US intelligence said in February that Wagner was involved at the time he suffered 30,000 injured in Ukraine, including 9,000 dead.
The forces of the Wagner Group have been involved in the most dangerous war in the all-out invasion of Ukraine in Moscow – especially in the occupation of Ukraine. a town east of Bakhmut.
But after Prigozhin he started a conspiracy against the Russian military leadership last month and marched thousands of his men to within 200 kilometers of Moscow, the Kremlin fought back against the army, which is now broken.
Under the contract he beat and the Kremlin-Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, Wagner fighters who participated in the attacks were given the option to disarm and go home, go into exile in Belarus, or sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense. Russian MP Vladimir Shamanov, a retired commander of the Russian Armed Forces, he said in an interview on Wednesday that 33,000 Wagnerites chose the latter and joined the Russian army.
But the words published on the Wagner Loading channel, which were also published in the comms channel of Prigozhin and thus known as the rebel military leader, are looking at the number.
“Here is the real math,” the document said. “A total of 78,000 fighters of PMC Wagner took part in the Ukrainian operation. Of these, 49,000 were prisoners from the camps. During the capture of Bakhmut (May 20), 22,000 soldiers were killed, 40,000 were wounded. 25,000 [are currently] alive and well, including the injured receiving treatment. Of them, up to 10,000 have left and gone to Belarus. 15,000 have already gone on vacation. I don’t know where the 33,000 people who went to war came from. If all those who have been killed and are on vacation sign contracts, then it is possible.”
Earlier on Wednesday, in a video message sent to the same Telegraph channel, Prigozhin he announced that Wagner’s troops would not return to the war in Ukraine, but would instead stay in Belarus “temporarily” to train local forces.
He also said that he might go to Africa, where the army is stationed has been working for many years – especially in Mali and the Central African Republic.