General Staff reports shootout between Wagner and regular Russian soldiers in Luhansk Oblast

A fight that broke out between soldiers of the Russian army and the infamous Wagner mercenary group escalated into a shootout in the occupied town of Stanytsia Luhanska in Russian-controlled Luhansk Oblast the General Staff reported on April 23 in its daily evening briefing.

According to the General Staff, there were casualties on both sides as a result of the clash.

“They (different Russian forces) are trying to shift responsibility for their own tactical miscalculations and losses onto each other,” the report reads.

Though no outside evidence has emerged to back up the claim of the shootout, Wagner forces have often found themselves at odds with the Russian Defense Ministry at a higher level, due to several reasons including the delivery of ammunition.

Luhansk Oblast was fully occupied by Russia in early July 2022 after the capture of Lysychansk, the last major city in the oblast that was under Ukrainian control.

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Kyiv IndependentAlexander Khrebet