Handout image from Russian Defense Ministry of military helicopter
(Picture: AP)Poorly trained operatives in a Russian defence unit known as ‘Putin’s private army’ are being threatened with “summary execution”, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said.
The British government tweeted about the Wagner Group on Monday morning, a Putin-loyal military proxy operation which continues to take a major role in attritional combat around the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut.
The MoD said that in recent months the Wagner Group has developed offensive tactics to make use of the large number of poorly trained convicts it has recruited.
The tweet thread added: “Individual fighters are likely issued a smart phone or tablet which shows the individual’s designated axis of advance and assault objective superimposed on commercial satellite imagery.
“At platoon level and above, commanders likely remain in cover and give orders over radios, informed by video feeds from small uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“Individuals and sections are ordered to proceed on the preplanned route, often with fire-support, but less often alongside armoured vehicles. Wagner operatives who deviate from their assault routes without authorisation are likely being threatened with summary execution.”
The MoD added that “brutal tactics” aim to conserve Wagner’s rare assets of experienced commanders and armoured vehicles at the expense of the more readily available convict-recruits.
“The organisation assesses [the convicts] as expendable,” the statement added.
The Wagner Group has roughly 8,000 members and has been described as a paramilitary organisation that serves Russian president Vladimir Putin as a private army.
It is seen by Estonia to be a terrorist group. It had previously been reported the group flew in more than 400 contractors from the Central African Republic in mid- to late-January on a mission to assassinate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
It was reported last week that Ukrainian forces struck a hotel where many Wagner operatives had been staying. British defence chiefs said at the time that Putin’s troops are “unlikely to make operationally significant advances within the next several months”.
