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The Wagner Group private military company (PMC) may be trying to force mobilized Russian personnel to sign contracts with the mercenaries fighting for Moscow to offset their troop losses in Ukraine.
Spearheading Moscow's fierce fight for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut that has raged for months, the group, headed by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, has seen a huge number of troops killed in action.
The independent Russian language news outlet Astra shared a video of a group of mobilized personnel from the Moscow and Ivanovo regions complaining that they had been taken to Ukraine without their knowledge.
They had been sent by plane from Kursk to Rostov-on-Don supposedly for training but were then transferred at night to the Ukrainian oblast of Luhansk.
"A group of around 170 mobilized men from these aircraft ... were forced to sign contracts with the Wagner PMC," Astra reported, citing the soldiers' relatives. Russian sources had previously reported that 100 mobilized personnel in Luhansk Oblast disappeared from April 7 after refusing to sign contracts with Wagner.
The Institute for the Study of War said on Sunday that the Russian Ministry of Defense may allow mobilized troops to fulfil their obligations by signing contracts with Wagner. However, it is "unclear" what status troops who had been initially assigned to conventional units and were now with Wagner would have.
Wagner's push to get "poorly trained mobilized personnel," in addition to its change in approach to prisoner exchanges, showed that the PMC was becoming "increasingly desperate for manpower as it continues to conduct highly attritional offensive operations in and around Bakhmut," the think tank said.
On Saturday, Wagner returned 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in a swap that was not confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry, which Newsweek has emailed for comment.
This lack of confirmation pointed to Wagner's autonomy from the Ministry of Defense and Prigozhin is likely to be wanting to redeploy "high value" members of his forces who have been part of the exchange.
It also suggests that "he is prioritizing replenishing diminished Wagner units over his continued effort to project Soviet brutalist strength and appeal to Russian ultranationalists," the ISW said.
Faced by huge losses, Russia's parliament voted a controversial bill last week that tightens military draft rules that many observers believe will pave the way for a second wave of mobilization.
On Friday, researchers from the BBC Russian service and independent news outlet Mediazona revealed that the verified number of Russian troops killed in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine stands at 20,451. Ukraine's estimate as of Monday was 182,660 troops, although Western tallies are lower. Moscow has not updated its tally of losses since September, which back then was just under 6,000.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more