According to Ukrainian soldiers, the fight against the Wagner group is like a “zombie movie”. They suspect the mercenaries are drugged.
Bakhmut – For several weeks, Ukrainian soldiers have been southwest of the town of Bakhmut with hundreds of fighters from the Russian private military company Wagner group confronted attacking Ukrainian positions. Ukrainian soldiers now reported to the US broadcaster CNN from a seemingly never-ending firefight during which they were attacked by a “barrage of Wagner fighters”. The reports reveal the brutal tactics of the private army.
“We fought for about ten hours at a time. And it wasn’t just waves, it was continuous. It was like they wouldn’t stop coming.” Their AK-47 rifles got so hot from the constant shelling, one Ukrainian soldier says, that they had to keep changing them. “We were about 20 soldiers on our side. And, say, 200 on their side.”
Wagner Group sends inexperienced recruits to the Ukraine war
The Wagner Group’s Method of War in the Ukraine war there is noisy CNN in launching a first wave of attackers, composed mainly of recruits straight from Russian prisons. They know little about military tactics and are poorly equipped. Most just hoped that if they survived their six-month contract, they could go home and not have to go back to a cell.
“They make the group – let’s say ten soldiers – get 30 meters, then they start digging in to hold the position,” a Ukrainian soldier told the police CNN. Another group follow, claiming another 30 meters. “In this way, Wagner tries to advance step by step, while they lose a lot of people in the meantime.” Only when the first wave is exhausted or eliminated does Wagner send more experienced fighters, often from the flanks, to overrun the Ukrainian positions.
Wagner mercenaries in the Ukraine war: Prigozhin’s private army acts “scary and surreal”
The Ukrainian soldier says the attack by the private army commanded by Yevgeny Prigozhin was a frightening and surreal experience. “Our machine gunner almost went insane shooting at them. And he said: I know I shot him, but he doesn’t fall. And then after a while, maybe if he bleeds to death, then he just falls over.”
The soldier compares the fight to a scene from a zombie movie. “They climb over the bodies of their friends and step on them,” he says. “It looks very, very likely they were on drugs before the attack” – a claim that CNN could not independently verify. (cas)