A Wagner Group insider reveals desperate tactics as waves of

A Wagner Group insider reveals desperate tactics as waves of condemned prisoners are sent to die

A Russian source has exposed the brutal tactics used by Putin’s private mercenaries in Ukraine.

Russian Criminal, a website with links to the VChK-OGPU, repeated insider comments on the Wagner Group suicide bombings.

The Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organization first deployed in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and is now a private extension of the Russian army in Ukraine with close ties to Putin.

The source told the outlet how squadrons of conscripts keep being sent in waves to bring the front line a little closer to the enemy while Russian artillery continues to explode overhead.

The source said: “Sometimes there is an order not to wait for the shelling to end – the ‘musicians’ [Wagner recruits] are so disciplined that they leave anyway because they have a fighting chance of survival.’

Putin's buddy Yevgeny Prigozhin trains prisoners to become

Putin’s buddy Yevgeny Prigozhin trains prisoners to become “real cannibals” in the war with Ukraine

Wagner mercenaries in Popasna, Sievierodonetsk District of Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine

Wagner mercenaries in Popasna, Sievierodonetsk District of Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine

Web previously reported on the “human wave” tactics used by the Russian army and the Wagner Group, filmed late last year during intense fighting around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

Russian attacks have become increasingly desperate in recent months as Putin seeks to secure a major victory after months of deadlock.

Nihilist advances reminiscent of Britain’s WWI experience on the Somme result in colossal casualties for both Ukraine and the invading Russians, who are increasingly repelling the invading forces with a shield made of ex-convicts.

The inside source, likely from within the Wagner Group, told Russian Criminal that groups of eight are advancing in waves.

Each attack usually consists of four waves, but can take up to 14 waves to capture a contested area, as seen in Soledar.

The source said casualties often totaled a hundred or more per section.

Conscripts from the Russian penal colonies are disciplined by watching video executions.

Those who show weakness or are slightly injured risk being shot in the legs and left behind.

As a result, waves of troops rush into suicide attacks from friendly artillery fire.

A Ukrainian drone captured the moment when a group of Russian troops came under heavy artillery fire near the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut in Donetsk

A Ukrainian drone captured the moment when a group of Russian troops came under heavy artillery fire near the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut in Donetsk

Stormtroopers initially advance in a squad of eight with a Bumblebee missile-assisted flamethrower.

“Whatever happens, the group must achieve a firefight. “Whatever happens” is not an empty phrase, but a task which, regardless of all factors, will end up failing in its execution.”

Losses of more than 50% are not bad if there is a result

The squads then continue a cycle of advancing, digging in, and marking a position, then reporting the coordinates back to the artillery crews.

Less well-equipped teams then reportedly push forward to advance the starting position marked by the stormtroopers.

Many are killed by friendly artillery fire launched from Russian territory, tricked into advancing even as the artillery continues to land around them.

The source explained how the Wagner Group is filling in for the regular army in contested areas like Soledar, where defense lines are strong. Mercenaries, made up largely of ex-convicts, are more willing to take on the task, losing four waves of eight men to push the front line.

‘Losses of more than 50% are not bad if there is a result.’

Late last year, Russia made a concerted effort to recruit more prisoners to its front lines in a bid to break the stalemate in Ukraine.

The number of prisoners in Russian penal colonies fell by 23,000 between September and October, the independent newspaper Medizona reported.

On November 6, Putin signed a new law allowing the Russian state to recruit convicts.

Between the summer and fall of 2022, the largely unlawful private Wagner group is likely to have focused most heavily on the recruitment of convicts.

Prisoners who joined the war effort and returned after six months during last summer’s recruitment campaign were reportedly offered amnesty and a cash payment.

Yesterday, Britain’s Ministry of Defense reported that Russia was struggling to keep up its supply of convicts and could no longer rely on human-wave-style attacks.

The Russian Criminal source confirmed this, adding that as a result of the Wagner groups’ suicidal tactics, “casualties are increasing and progressing [slowing] down’.

“At first, the recruitment of convicts gave a full stream of people. Now they’re gone.”

White House spokesman John Kirby said in January that there were an estimated 50,000 Wagner group fighters currently in Ukraine, of whom about 40,000 are convicts.

Prior to Ukraine, private Wagner Group mercenaries were deployed in Syria, Sudan and Central Africa, while the Kremlin was able to deny any official Russian involvement

Prior to Ukraine, private Wagner Group mercenaries were deployed in Syria, Sudan and Central Africa, while the Kremlin was able to deny any official Russian involvement

Graves of fighters of the Russian Wagner mercenary group can be seen in a cemetery near Bakinskaya

Graves of fighters of the Russian Wagner mercenary group can be seen in a cemetery near Bakinskaya

Web reported yesterday on the desperate plight of Russian infantry, used as cannon fodder, who would rather take their own lives than fight for Putin in Ukraine.

A 25-year-old who was plagued by panic attacks while witnessing the atrocities of the war died by suicide after throwing himself from a 10-story window in front of his mother.

Unfortunately, Mikhail Lyubimov’s story is not unique and offers a tragic insight into the stark reality of aggressive war.

Putin’s “meat grinder” approach to war, sending in waves of conscripts to make small territorial advances in a sovereign nation, has led to a steady decline in morale and support for the war over the past year.

Meduza reported last year that support from the war among the Russians fell steadily throughout 2022, peaking in March-April and declining from 25% to 16% by September.

Spring’s thick mud – “Rasputitsa” – is the latest assault on Russian morale as eastern Ukraine grows damp and wet.

Thawing the ground makes progress more difficult for advancing armor and can give burrowed defenders a tactical advantage.

As a result, it was predicted that the end of winter could make it more difficult for Ukraine to regain territory, further solidifying the war into a stalemate.

Ukrainian soldiers dig trenches in Soledar in the Donetsk region January 14 as the Wagner group attacked in waves using tactics reminiscent of World War I

Ukrainian soldiers dig trenches in Soledar in the Donetsk region January 14 as the Wagner group attacked in waves using tactics reminiscent of World War I

The hands of a Ukrainian soldier take a cigarette break following a fresh wave of attacks and attacks on key infrastructure in Soledar, eastern Ukraine, on January 14, 2023

The hands of a Ukrainian soldier take a cigarette break following a fresh wave of attacks and attacks on key infrastructure in Soledar, eastern Ukraine, on January 14, 2023

Russia has long relied on its large prison population to change the outcome of the war.

After the German invasion of the USSR in 1941, the Soviet Union faced a mass exodus of its regular troops.

As Nazi Germany advanced through Crimea, Soviet leader Josef Stalin created punishment battalions (“Shtrafbats”), made up entirely of professional criminals, to bolster the armed forces.

Prisoners were sent to the most dangerous parts of the front line to resist the German invasion.

By October 1942, Stalin instituted “lockdown squads” to stop criminals from advancing and to shoot “alarmists and cowards.”

The infamous Order 227 – the “Not a step back” order – stated that “alarmists and cowards must be liquidated at once”.