Monitoring Desk
KYIV: US officials say that over 30,000 mercenaries fighting for the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group have been killed or injured since the Ukraine war began.
White House spokesman John Kirby claimed the group had suffered significant losses recently, with around 9,000 fighters killed in action.
Wagner Group has recruited heavily in Russian prisons, and Mr Kirby said most casualties were poorly trained convicts.
Despite the casualties, the Wagner Group has made gains around Bakhmut city.
Some of the war’s fiercest fighting has taken place around the eastern city, with Wagner group mercenaries heavily involved in Russian efforts to capture it.
Ukrainian forces say Wagner fighters have been sent into attacks in large numbers over open ground. A Ukrainian army spokesperson said Russia has failed to evacuate injured and dead soldiers – leading to “places where their bodies are just piled up.”
But capturing Bakhmut could allow Russia to advance to bigger cities further west, like Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.
However, John Kirby – the US National Security Council (UNSC) spokesman – suggested further advances could be difficult given the gains made in Bakhmut region had taken months to achieve and come at a “deadliest cost that is not sustainable.” He also questioned the military significance of the city.
Wagner Group suffer up to 60,000 deaths in Ukraine: UK
UK intelligence officials have estimated that Wagner troops and Russian regular forces may have suffered between 175,000-200,000 casualties – including forty thousand to sixty thousand deaths.
The high number of deaths was due to extremely rudimentary medical provision, the United Kingdom’s defence ministry said.
Wagner Group was much smaller before the Ukraine war, with just 5,000 fighters, most experienced former soldiers.
It started recruiting thousands of fighters last year – mainly from prisons, according to the US – as Russia had trouble finding troops for its invasion of Ukraine. UK officials say that half of those convicts have probably been wounded or killed.
Wagner is believed to have started operations in 2014 in the annexed Crimean Peninsula and has since operated elsewhere in Ukraine, Syria, and across Africa. It has been accused of brutality and war crimes.
