Captured Wagnerians speak of colossal Russian casualties

Two captured Ukrainian fighters of the Russian Wagner PMC told foreign journalists about their experiences on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. According to them, they experienced horror and shock of what was happening. CNN writes about them.

One of them said he got to the front as part of a group of 90 people in the Luhansk region. Almost immediately they were sent under fire. During the assault, 60 people were killed immediately. Some of the others were wounded. Another was thrown into the line of fire near Lisichansk.

The first steps into the forest were hard. Of the ten, seven died at once. But there was no way to help the wounded. The Ukrainians were taking heavy fire at us, so even if their wounds were minor, you had to keep going, otherwise you would come under fire. For five days people were dying, praying and dying, begging for water. You think you can put your weapons down and nothing else happens. But no, just wave after wave. If one group fails, another is sent immediately. If it also fails - a third is sent," said one of the prisoners.

He stressed that the commanders did not think at all about evacuating the wounded. The bodies were thrown onto a truck. at the same time, there might have been those who were killed alive, but they were also placed in the truck as the dead.

One man remained at the position, he was very frightened, it was his first assault. This was reported to the command and he was taken 50 meters away from the base. He dug his own grave and then was shot," said one of the mercenaries.

He noted that on the battlefield no one thought of victory, they just tried to survive

I just had a desire to survive, at any cost. However, the alternative of going through minefields to Ukrainian artillery was just as deadly," said the enlisted man.

The prisoners said that in August and September last year, while they were serving time in prison, group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in prison, offering six-month contracts in exchange for a pardon. One of the prisoners still had 10 years in prison ahead of him for manslaughter.

I felt that six months was better than the 10 or 11 years I could still spend in prison... I just wanted a fresh start in life," he said.

He stressed that during their recruitment they were lied to that they would be fighting not Ukrainians but foreign mercenaries on Ukrainian territory.

We didn't think that there was anyone left in the Ukrainian army. No one really thought that the AFU would actually fight for their country, for their loved ones," one of the captives stressed.