The Wagner Group — a Russian private military company owned by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin — has been at the forefront of Russia’s efforts to capture the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast. What is it, and why does Moscow use it?
Visually, the scene was a familiar one. Russian armored vehicles emblazoned with the Z logo in the central streets of a once peaceful city, masked soldiers standing at key intersections, and confrontational conversations with bemused local civilians. But this wasn’t a Ukrainian city in the first days of Russia’
Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner Group mercenaries, said Russian Defense Ministry attacked the group's bases in the rear. "We have 25,000 (soldiers), and we're going to respond," he said.
All Russian volunteer fighters are expected to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry by July 1 as part of their integration into the regular army, according to an order signed by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on June 10.
Key Developments on May 25: * Prigozhin claims Wagner forces begin to withdraw from Bakhmut * Ukraine’s Defense Ministry says Russian military replacing Wagner units near Bakhmut * 106 Bakhmut defenders released from Russian captivity * Moscow and Minsk sign agreement to place nuclear weapons in Belarus * EU has frozen 200 billion euros
CHASIV YAR, Donetsk Oblast – Ten months after Russia's assault on the once-flourishing city in Donetsk Oblast began, Bakhmut has now been effectively occupied by Russian troops. This hasn’t been confirmed yet by Kyiv, but is evident based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on the ground
On the evening of May 9, just half a day after a single T-34 tank rolled through Red Square during Moscow’s subdued Victory Day celebrations, something unexpected happened. Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, announced that units of the Russian regular army’s 72nd Separate Motorized
“This Week in Ukraine” is a video podcast hosted by Kyiv Independent’s reporter Anastasiia Lapatina. Every week, Anastasiia sits down with her newsroom colleagues to discuss Ukraine’s most pressing issues.
Key developments on May 7: * Wagner chief claims army promised enough ammunition to keep fighting in Bakhmut after threats * Commander: Russia intensifying attacks in Bakhmut with heavy weaponry * Ukrainian military: Russia moving civilians out of occupied Enerhodar Russia's Wagner Group claimed on May 7 that Moscow had promised enough ammunition
After seeming to have calmed down over early spring, the internal conflict between Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Defense Ministry has escalated dramatically. In the early morning of May 5, Prigozhin recorded a video in front of what he claimed to be the bodies of dozens
Private armies are illegal in Russia, so naturally, Moscow has been using them for decades. Now, it’s making them the main invasion force. The rate at which Russia creates new private military company-like units sped up after 2014 but it really took off during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
Two months after Ukraine’s defense of Bakhmut seemed doomed, the bloodiest battle of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine is still going against all expectations. Making rapid advances at the end of February, Russian forces seemed to be on the cusp of surrounding the city, as the only roads
DONETSK OBLAST – Climbing to a firing position through trenches dug into black Ukrainian soil, the relative quiet in the air is only reassuring to an extent. At the most forward point, a Soviet-era recoilless rifle stands watch, dug into a shallow depression in the ground. Bohdan, a company commander of
Key developments on April 6: * Russia’s Wagner Group admits Ukrainian strongholds remain in Bakhmut * Lithuania to send $44 million worth of military aid to Ukraine * Ukraine, Poland to co-produce 125 mm tank shells * Reuters: China ready to work with France on Ukraine peace * EU chief says China’s Xi
Key developments on April 3: * Ukraine denies Russian claims about seizing Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast * Poland delivers first MiG-29 jets to Ukraine * Zelensky on upcoming counteroffensive: Russians “still have time to leave — otherwise, we will destroy them” * Zelensky, European officials meet with Russian occupation survivors in Chernihiv Oblast * General Staff:
On the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, with the first days of March came the all-consuming mud. Videos of trucks and armored vehicles bogged down in fields heralded the arrival of a time traditionally known in Ukrainian as bezdorizhzhia, or “roadlessness.” Though the mud may present a brief challenge to both
The battle for Bakhmut has revealed a decade-long covert conflict in Russia's Armed Forces. On one side, there is the regular Russian military. On the other side, Wagner Group, Russia's most high-profile mercenary outfit. Wagner was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian generals have
Editor’s Note: The names of the people interviewed by the Kyiv Independent have been changed in this story to protect their identity as they have shared sensitive information that could place them and their families in danger. Not all of Ukraine’s attacks on Russian positions end up circulating
The ambassadors of European Union countries on Dec. 8 adopted sanctions against the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-backed military contractor, Rikard Jozwiak, an editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, wrote on Twitter. The sanctions apply to individuals who have fought in Ukraine, Syria, and Libya. Wagner mercenaries have been used
Ukraine revoked the international passports of five former intelligence operatives who were involved in the botched July 2020 operation to capture Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, RFE/RL reported on Nov. 25. According to a recent Bellingcat investigation, Ukrainian intelligence lured 33 mercenaries to Belarus and planned to intercept them en
The protesters gathered outside the President’s Office after attending a march marking the eighth anniversary of the EuroMaidan Revolution on Nov. 21. The demonstrators demanded that Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, be fired. If he is not removed from his post within the next
On Nov. 19, Vasyl Burba, ex-head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, said that Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak told him he was acting on presidential orders when he delayed an operation to capture 33 Kremlin-backed Wagner group mercenaries. Burba made the statement soon after the Bellingcat investigative project reported that
Ukraine’s military intelligence conducted an unsuccessful sting operation to capture 33 Kremlin-backed Wagner Group mercenaries in July 2020, the Bellingcat investigative project reported on Nov. 17. According to the investigation, the operation failed after President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak told intelligence officials to delay the mercenaries’
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