He has been held since the beginning of October in a “waiting area” for people in court. Alexander Zlodeev, in his fifties, requested political asylum in France after leaving Russia. He was part of the Wagner group, which he left in 2017, and today remains in contact with often seasoned fighters. This company of Russian mercenaries fought in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic and Mali, and since the start of the war have sent fighters to Ukraine on behalf of the Kremlin.
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Wagner is very present, particularly in the Ukrainian Donbass, where mercenaries had already intervened since 2014. Moreover, with the entry into force of martial law, decreed by Vladimir Putin, Yevegueni Prigojine, the boss of the paramilitary group Wagner, will form and supervise a people’s militia in the Belgorod region to monitor the border, according to official terms. Alexandre was assigned there in 2015.”Wagner’s fighters are essentially assault groups“, he says. “All our victories in Ukraine were made thanks to the Wagner group, it is thanks to them that they still somehow manage to move forward“, assures Alexander.
“Wagner has more experience, more esprit de corps, more motivation. They are dogs of war, people born for war.”
The men of the Wagner group”know how to fight“, but all the same, this war is terribly deadly for the Russians, confirms Alexander. And Wagner’s fighters are not spared.”Everyone says that the Russian troops are currently suffering very heavy losses. Beyond the Wagner group, I have sources in the special forces and in the intelligence of the Urals military district who say that their regiment lost 80% of its men“, he insists.
The future prospects for the Russian army in Ukraine are increasingly complicated, General Sergey Surovikin, commander of the Russian army, even acknowledged this Tuesday, October 18 that the situation was “tense” on the Ukrainian front. And particularly since the Ukrainian counter-offensives launched at the end of August, which the Russians are finding it increasingly difficult to contain.
>> War in Ukraine: the Russian army says the situation is “tense” for its troops
The hypothesis of a victory of the Russian army is not even credible according to Alexander. “To win ? No, there is no way to win this war today!he admits, even with Wagner’s men“.”To win, you would have to multiply their number by hundreds, he explains. And for him, it is impossible: Where to find these people? Since the time Wagner was created, many of the most experienced fighters have been killed. Now there is no one.“
So the Wagner group is now trying to recruit everyone and anyone, including common law prisoners, to fill the gaps on the front line, recruits with little or no experience. Currently, the fighters of the Wagner group would not exceed 8,000 men in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Several thousand of them have already been killed.