Of the almost 20 thousand wagnerists who died during the Storming of the Ukrainian Bakhmut, more than 17 thousand were prisoners taken to the front from Russian colonies and pre-trial detention centers. This was found out by journalists of the Media Zone and the Russian Air Force service, reports UNN.
Details
According to journalists, 19,547 "wagnerists" were killed in the battles for Bakhmut, of which 88% - 17,175 were prisoners. It is noted that the remaining 2,372 were volunteers.
In July 2022, the Russian military went to the suburbs of Bakhmut, where more than 70 thousand people lived before the war. For many months, Bakhmut became the main battleground of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The Ukrainian military held on to the city, protecting the roads to Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Seversk and Torets. Despite this, the strategic importance of Bakhmut remained limited, while the political significance grew as the number of victims of this meat grinder increased
It is noted that journalists, studying the token numbers of the dead prisoners, found that at least 48,366 people were recruited from the wagnerists ' colonies. Journalists found out that those prisoners who were sent to the front in the summer and autumn of 2022 managed to survive first of all. Those who went to war later died much more often.
In the summer of 2022, Wagner fought local battles for settlements near Bakhmut. By August, the Russians were able to occupy the eastern outskirts of Soledar. but the offensive stopped there. The number of dead prisoners begins to rise sharply from September 12, 2022: if before that 25-35 convicts per week were killed, then from September 12 to 50. Russian propagandists claimed that it was on September 12 that the military approached Bakhmut and even occupied the industrial zone of the city, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a counterattack and tried to cover the wagnerists with artillery fire. Of course, propagandists then assured that those attempts were unsuccessful, but a sharp increase in the number of losses indicates otherwise
Since mid-November, weekly PMC losses have not fallen below 400 people. S 90% of them accounted for prisoners. In December, Wagner managed to overcome the industrial zone in the east of the city and reach residential areas of Bakhmut, and at the same time capture villages that opened the way for mercenaries to Soledar, an important suburb of Bakhmut.
By the end of December, Wagner had lost almost 7,500 people.On January 29, Prigozhin reports on the capture of the village of Blagodatnoye, north of Bakhmut — during the week of the assault, he loses 1,002 people. This is about eight corpses for each resident of the village (according to pre-war data). 96% of Wagner's deaths during this period were prisoners.
At the same time, the level of losses of mercenaries recruited from freedom remained consistently low until March 2023: on average, 40-50 people died per week. At the same time, the level of losses of mercenaries recruited from freedom remained consistently low until March 2023: on average, 40-50 people died per week.
recall
Over the past day, the Russian Federation has lost 1,190 military personnel, as a result of which the total combat losses of the terrorist country since the beginning of the invasion on February 24, 2022 amounted to 519,750 people.