The military announced the latest results, the West speculated about combat capabilities, and the Russian mysterious "Wagner" group surfaced

Source: Global Times

The Russian army recently invaded the city of Soledar in the Donetsk region, and this military action brought the Russian private military company "Wagner" group to the surface. The Russian Ministry of Defense rarely admitted on the 13th that the fighters of the "Wagner" group played an important role in the battle to capture Soredar. How strong is the combat effectiveness of the "Wagner" group, which has recently attracted great attention from many foreign media? What kind of signal did the Russian military's high-profile announcement of the latest results of "Wagner" in Wudong release, and does it mean that the Russian army's combat methods in the special military operation have changed to a certain extent?

In Soledar with the Russian army acted according to a unified plan

Russia's "Viewpoint" reported on the 14th that Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Konashenkov said on the 13th that the "Wagner" private military group played an important role in the battle to capture Soredar. Fighters of the private military group attacked the city's city blocks directly, while the Russian army blocked the city from two directions, preventing the Ukrainian army from moving reserves and providing fire support for the attack with aircraft and artillery. According to the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense, a diverse combat group composed of Wagner fighters and Russian military personnel is taking military operations in the city according to a unified plan, including blockade of northern and southern Soredar, blockade of the city's combat zone, cut off the movement of Ukrainian troops from neighboring areas, and prevent Ukrainian troops from withdrawing from the city.

However, there are huge differences in the description of the situation in Soledar between Russia and Ukraine. Russia's "Izvestia" reported on the 15th that "Wagner" fighters showed the "liberated" Soledar to the reporter of the newspaper and told about the battle with the Ukrainian army. "We met with strong resistance," he said. The pressure of the Russian army on the Ukrainian army was very strong, and they had to retreat. ”

According to a report by the Ukrainian State News Agency on the 15th, the Ukrainian General Staff announced on the same day that in the past day, the Ukrainian army eliminated 630 Russian soldiers. The fierce fighting in Soledal continued, and the Russian army suffered heavy losses.

According to the American Institute for War Studies, Prigozhin, the founder of the "Wagner" private military group and a well-known Russian businessman, released a video allegedly shot in Soledar on the 14th to show the role played by "Wagner" in occupying the city.

He said that Wagner's success was due to its rich experience, independence, sophisticated military equipment and efficient command. Experts from the institute said that Prigozhin tried to publicize by expanding the role of the "Wagner" group and himself in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in order to further recruit troops.

What exactly is the combat effectiveness

After the Russian side invaded Soredar, the outside world was very concerned about the combat effectiveness of the "Wagner" military personnel. How many fighters and combat equipment has the private military group invested in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict? According to a report by the Russian Military Observation Network on the 15th, Prigozhin, the founder of the "Wagner" group, said on the 14th that the fighters of "Wagner" have been fighting for many years and can independently complete all combat missions, and they have all the necessary weapons: aircraft, various types of multiple launch rocket launchers, advanced air defense systems, tanks, armored vehicles, etc. He also stressed that Wagner was able to complete the task because it had the strictest discipline.

At present, the West has not reached a consensus on how many troops the "Wagner" group will invest in the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield. Previous BBC articles believe that the number of mercenaries deployed by the "Wagner" group in Ukraine has increased from 1,000 to nearly 20,000. Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications at the US National Security Council, said at a press conference that according to US estimates, the number of fighters of the "Wagner" group during the Russian special military operation reached 50,000 and the monthly expenditure reached $100 million, but Kirby did not explain the basis for the conclusion.

As for the source of the mercenaries of the "Wagner" group, the Western media generally declare that the "Wagner" group previously mainly recruited retired personnel of the Russian army, and now the recruitment of prisoners from Russian prisons seems to have become an important source of mercenaries.

However, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, commenting on reports about the dismantling of the criminalization of combatants, said that amnesty for Russian prisoners can be granted only in accordance with the law and the decree signed by the president.

In addition, Western media spread information that the combat operations of the "Wagner" group in the city of Soledar could enable the group to claim the rich salt mines in the area for itself. In order to curb the development of the "Wagner" group, the US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on the group in an attempt to cut off the group's source of funds. During his recent visit to Serbia, US government officials also asked Serbian President Vučić to take measures to cut off the ties between Serbs and the "Wagner" group. The U.S. government believes that the group is keen to recruit mercenaries among Serbs.

Can only perform tasks in specific areas?

The mercenaries of the "Wagner" group are believed to have entered the battlefield of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict long ago, but because of their special status, they have not been publicly recognized by the Russian government and military before, but Western media reports have made the outside world aware of the existence of the "Wagner" group in the battlefield.

Some American think tanks believe that long before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the "Wagner" group has been operating in the Donbas region, and has not attracted much attention from the outside world because of its frequent covert actions.

The Wagner group airlifted more than 400 people in mid-to-late January 2022 to try to carry out top-secret missions in Ukraine in preparation for the start of a special military operation by the Russian army, but it seems to have been unsuccessful, according to the British newspaper The Times. After the outbreak of the conflict, the "Wagner" group participated in the offensive operations of the Russian army in many places, including the capture of Lisichansk in late June last year with the Russian army.

Russia's "free media" reported on the 14th that Sergei Yermakov, an expert at the Information Analysis Center of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, believes that the West has always wanted to put pressure on the "Wagner" group because of its success in many regions around the world. At first, it was believed that the group could not play a role in the special military operation against Ukraine, but practice proved that they quickly changed tactics and showed their strength in combat operations against Ukraine.

Russian military expert Vasily Dandkin said that when launching an offensive in such a highly urbanized region as Donbass, the regular Russian army and "Wagner" fighters must fight hard in urban conditions. "In Soledal we are witnessing a new type of urban warfare," he said. Russian airborne forces blockaded the south and north of the city and worked closely with Wagner fighters. On the ground, these fighters were supported by Russian artillery fire. In the air, Russian aircraft also carried out strikes on targets in the city. In this urban combat operation, we see the effectiveness of the cooperation between private military groups and Russian army units. Obviously, in order to further refine the experience gained in the Soledar offensive, it is necessary to strengthen the cooperation between the Russian military and the fighters of the "Wagner". ”

However, Russian military expert Vladislav Shurygin said that it is unrealistic to rely on "Wagner" alone to capture multiple towns. It is a disciplined military organization, but the number of combatants is not large, so the "Wagner" fighters can only act as performers of tasks in specific areas. For example, "Wagner" participated in the attack on the Soledar and Bakhmut regions, but needed strong support from Russian troops during the attack, while in some places only Russian troops were used in the offensive. During the offensive on Mariupol, the Russian army had army units, marines, Chechen special forces and the "Spartan" battalion of the "Donetsk People's Republic". Therefore, the outside world is wrong to think that urban warfare can be carried out exclusively by the fighters of the "Wagner" group.