Because they are afraid that Wagner mercenaries will ambush them
Ukrainians kill each other in Bakhmut
Those who fight for the Wagner Group can collect a tidy sum of money – if they survive. A German soldier who is at the front for Ukraine reports on the private army that is ruthlessly rampaging.
Published: 31 minutes ago
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Updated: 1 minute ago
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The private army of Wagner mercenaries is responsible for war crimes around the world. For example in Mali (picture), but also in the Ukraine.
Ukrainians, Russians and Wagner mercenaries fight each other every day. In many cases, the legionnaires do not have a Russian passport, but actually live abroad. Volunteers are also fighting on the Ukrainian side. Ben Kauler* (21) is one of them and spoke to the “Tagesspiegel” about his experiences. The German soldier has faced Wagner mercenaries on several occasions – especially in the hotly contested town of Bakhmut, where the mercenaries of Yevgeny Prigozhin (61) are mainly deployed. And Kauler has already captured several of them.
During his missions, the young soldier was surprised at how many foreigners worked for the Russians and killed his kind. Kauler fought with mercenaries who had American, French, Syrian or even German passports. Kauler asked one of the Germans he captured in Bakhmut what he was doing in Ukraine. His motivation: money.
Wagner mercenaries are paid $7,000 a month (almost CHF 6,500). Anyone who kills a volunteer fighter like Kauler and can prove that he is a foreigner with his passport and corpse gets another $10,000 bounty on top of that. The mercenaries earn more than Kauler himself. “These people fight in a private army that has long been notorious for war crimes around the world,” says Kauler. And in Ukraine, too, they don’t hold back on crime. Many prisoners in the Ukraine are fighting for the Wagner group, who were promised freedom and money.
They don Ukrainian uniforms and plan an ambush
However, the equipment and training of the mercenaries is a disaster. “The Russians camp in a meadow for two weeks, then they get a Kalashnikov and are sent to the front,” reports Kauler. Many mercenaries who only want to make big money don’t survive the fight. The result is shocking: According to reports from the NGO Rus Sidjaschschaja, only 10,000 of the 50,000 prisoners are still fighting at the front. The rest were either taken prisoner of war, escaped – or were killed.
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Kauler reports on the confusing situation in Bachmut. “The enemy could be lurking around every corner,” he says. And: “It also happens that Wagner mercenaries put on Ukrainian uniforms, sneak into the city and shoot Ukrainians from behind.” The Russians are also said to set up fake checkpoints in enemy uniforms and lure Ukrainian soldiers into an ambush.
“Unfortunately, this tactic also leads to Ukrainian soldiers distrusting each other,” explains Kauler. In Bachmut, Ukrainians are said to have shot at Ukrainians several times for fear that a Wagner mercenary was in the uniform. This perfidious tactic is forbidden by the Hague Regulations (1899) – but that doesn’t stop the mercenaries. The “Zeit” writes that the Ukrainians report videos showing how Russian men put on Ukrainian uniforms – but their authenticity could not be verified. (jwg)
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