Chief Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin He defended the efforts to train his newest recruits who are out of the Russian penal system and scheduled to be deployed to the front lines of Ukraine and said they would “make real cannibals”.
Russia expert and former DIA intelligence officer on Russian Doctrine and Strategy, Rebekah Koffler, explained that the term is not a literal interpretation.
The expression is meant to pretend Prigozhin is turning his face Convicts in fighting machines They are preparing for the war front in Ukraine.
A man lays flowers in a coffin during the funeral of Dmitry Menshikov, a mercenary of Russia’s private military company Wagner Group, who was killed during the military conflict in Ukraine, on the Alley of Heroes at a cemetery in Saint Petersburg, Russia December 24, 2022.
(Reuters / Igor Rusak)
In a video released by the Daily Mail on Tuesday, Prigozhin spoke as Wagner forces trained behind him and said: “This is a supplementary training base for our fighters.”
“Basic training is in Molkino, and here experienced fighters are given additional training in their specialties,” he said, referring to the location of Russia’s main Wagner base. “Here they make real cannibals.”
Wagner began offering Russian convicts an opportunity to fight in Ukraine in return for securing their release from prison – no matter the charge.
Wagner Group Chairman Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the funeral of Dmitry Menshikov, a fighter from the Wagner Group who died during a special operation in Ukraine, at Belostrovskoye Cemetery outside Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Saturday, December 24, 2022.
(AP Photo)
As long as the convict can survive on the front lines for six months, he can return home without completing his prison term.
Although Wagner’s forces receive ammunition and equipment from the Russian Ministry of Defense, they do not work with it or act as part of the Russian military forces.
Prigozhin, an ally of Putin, concentrated his forces in the fiercest battles on regions in Ukraine such as Donetsk and claimed that Russia’s recent victories were due to his forces, not the Russian army.
People in uniform, purportedly soldiers of the Russian mercenary group Wagner and its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, pose for a photo believed to be at a salt mine in Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this photo posted Jan. 10, 2023.
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Although the Russian army sought to distance itself from Brutal mercenary group It claimed earlier this month that Russian military units and Wagner forces worked in an “uncoordinated” effort to secure the hotly contested town of Solidar.
The US estimates there are about 50,000 hired soldiers in Ukraine, about 10,000 are believed to be professional contractors while 40,000 has been recruited to fill the weak numbers on the ground.
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