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In Bakhmout, eastern Ukraine, Wagner’s mercenaries, a Russian militia that recruits prisoners to fight, are constantly attacking. These paramilitaries are used as cannon fodder against Ukrainian troops.
In Bakhmout, Ukraine, the hammering of cannons is incessant. Ukrainian forces must deal with Wagner’s mercenaries, a Russian militia that uses prisoners to fight. The paramilitaries constantly attack. The man leading the offensive from the Russian side, the boss of the Wagner militia, is Yevgueni Prigozhin. He recruits prisoners, paid to go and fight in Bakhmout. “They use them like cannon fodder. They don’t stay alive for long, no more than two months”confirms a Ukrainian soldier.
Another Ukrainian soldier recounts that he sees Wagner’s ex-prisoners advancing on the front line. “They have the order to advance. And if they don’t, they are executed”, he said. Most civilians are unaware that the Wagner Militia is responsible for their hellhole. About 17,000 people have taken refuge in the basements. “We don’t know anything. We don’t have internet, we’re always there”, says a woman. The city of Bakhmout has lost all strategic interest for Moscow. “Yet Wagner’s mercenaries are relentless, pushed by their leader in search of notoriety, and of course as always, the civilians are in the middle of these fights”concludes Maryse Burgot, special correspondent in Ukraine.