MILITÄR
Russlands Wagner Gruppe verliert Tausende
March 8, 2023 - Russlands Wagner Söldnergruppe ist gezwungen, mehr professionelle Soldaten in der Ukraine einzusetzen, um den ausgedünnten Bestand von eingezogenen Häftlingen zu ersetzen, die zu Tausenden im Kampf um Bachmut umgekommen sind.
Although private military groups are banned from participation in “armed conflict abroad for financial gain”, Wagner has been operating and recruiting openly in Russia since December 2022 and has been used by the Russian government to project Russian policy - with plausible deniability - particularly in Syria and Africa.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine war however, many of the contractors in Africa returned to Russia and, to boost numbers, the group began to recruit Russian prisoners for frontline duty in exchange for a presidential pardon and a salary of 100,000 rubles. The composition of its membership has changed from being almost exclusively military veterans and professional soldiers., but being largely untrained and with poor discipline, the fatalities have been disproportionately borne by these convict recruits.
In February, Wagner ended its prison recruitment drive, partly due to word reaching prisoners about the high casualty rate.