According to Ukrainian authorities, the affected premises were found thanks to photos posted on social networks by a pro-Russian journalist.
Article written by
Posted on 08/15/2022 10:24 PM Updated on 08/15/2022 11:20 PM
Reading time: 1 min
Russian mercenaries betrayed by their own photos. Kyiv claimed to have attacked a base of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner in Propasna in the Luhansk region (east) of Ukraine on Monday, August 15.
The private military company’s base was “destroyed by a precision strike” on Sunday after being found “thanks to a Russian journalist,” Luhansk governor Sergei Gaidai told Telegram (in Ukrainian). According to the media Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian), a pro-Russian journalist did in fact on April 8. Netizens found that the building was easy to find thanks to the address present in one of the photos, Radio Free Europe journalist Mark Krutov continues Twitter (in English). The original photos have since been deleted.
1/2 On Monday, August 8, Russian magazine published the photos of the headquarters of “Wagner PMC” in Popasna, including the sign with the building address: “Mironivska, 12”. “Putin’s cook” Prigozhin can be seen in the pictures. Today this building (48.616, 38.360) was hit by a Ukrainian strike pic.twitter.com/TDQtI5WrPw
— Mark Krutov (@kromark) August 14, 2022
The very opaque Wagner Group is accused of having fought alongside Russian troops in Ukraine and of recruiting soldiers directly from Russian prisons in exchange for a reduced sentence. The presence of their mercenaries has been confirmed in recent years in Syria, Libya, Mali and other African countries where they have been accused of abuse. The company is said to be linked to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigoyine, who is himself considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.