More than 20,000 fighters of the Russian Wagner Group were killed in Ukraine, and about 40,000 were injured. 78,000 mercenaries took part in the fighting against Ukrainian forces, Politico reported on Thursday, citing information published on the Wagner channel on Telegram.
Nearly a quarter of the Wagnerians fighting on Ukraine died – according to a message posted late Wednesday evening on the Wagner channel. Data on the number of killed and wounded mercenaries come from May 20, the day of the capture of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, reports Politico.
Interview in February USA estimated that the Wagner Group lost nine thousand people in Ukraine, and that there were a total of 30,000 wounded and killed.
The portal reminds that the Wagnerians were involved in the toughest fights in Ukraine, including the particularly bloody Battle of Bakhmut.
Wagner Group
After the failed mutiny of the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 24, the Russian authorities gave the mercenaries involved in the rebellion three options: disarm and return home, go to Belarus or sign contracts with the regular Russian army, reminds Politico.
Over 20,000 Wagnerians died in Ukraine
On Wednesday, MP Vladimir Shamanov, a retired general of the armed forces Russia, said that 33 thousand. Wagnerians decided to join the regular army. However, a message posted on the Group’s channel, which Prigozhin also published on his channel, undermines this assessment.
“Here is the real math. In total, 78,000 Wagner fighters participated in the mission in Ukraine. (…) In the period when Bakhmut was taken, 22,000 fighters were killed, 40,000 wounded. 25,000 are alive and well, plus the wounded who are being treated. Of these, up to 10,000 (…) and go to Belarus. 15,000 went on leave. If all those who died and those who are on leave signed contracts, then it would be possible,” the post on Telegram reads.
Wagnerians train with the Belarusian army near the Polish border. Experts talk about intentional actionMinistry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus
Earlier on Thursday, spokesman for the Ukrainian State Border Service Andriy Demchenko said that it is not known exactly how many Wagner Group mercenaries are in Belarus, but they arrived in the country without heavy weapons.
The Reuters agency reported, citing the Ministry of Defense in Minsk, that the place of training of the Belarusian army conducted by the Wagner Group will be a training ground near Brest, on the border between Belarus and Poland. The training will last about a week.
Main photo source: Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus