Russia is deploying former Wagner mercenaries near the Donetsk town of Avdiivka, which was recently seized by Moscow's forces, according to Ukrainian intelligence, which said they are taking the same approach they used in their brutal assaults elsewhere in the region.
Deputy Chief of Ukrainian military intelligence, Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, said that Russia was forming a volunteer corps of 18,000 troops.
"This, including all former Wagner mercenaries, is managed by the (Russian) Ministry of Defense," he told Interfax Ukraine, according to a translation.
"They are now operating in the Avdiivka area," he said, referring to the town that Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from after months of fierce fighting that saw Russian forces suffer heavy casualties.
Ukrainian military officials estimate that up to 47,000 Russians were killed or injured in the fight for Avdiivka, a higher figure than the 25,000 Soviet soldiers believed to have been killed during the entire Soviet-Afghan war that lasted between 1979 and 1989, although some estimates put the tally lower.
On Sunday, Russian forces advanced west of the town , according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Skibitskyi said the mercenaries are being deployed because of their combat experience and that "they use the same approach that Wagner used in Bakhmut— these are constant assaults and achieving results at any cost."
"As for the salary, it is almost the same as in the Russian armed forces. But Wagner had higher salaries, and Wagner valued its instructors and commanders very much," he said.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.
Wagner forces led by their founder Yevgeny Prigozhin seized Bakhmut in the Donetsk Oblast last May following months of fierce fighting. Avdiivka's capture this month was the first significant gain for Russia's forces since Bakhmut.
Prigozhin died in a plane crash in August, two months after his mercenaries staged a mutiny against Vladimir Putin's authority, seizing military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and advancing on Moscow. The Kremlin has denied responsibility for the crash.
Earlier in February, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense (MOD) said a video statement by Wagner's new commander, Anton Yelizarov, "implicitly" confirms that the mercenary group had integrated with Russia's national guard, Rosgvardiya, which is Putin's domestic security service.
Yelizarov, who goes by the call sign "Lotos," detailed the location of Wagner's new headquarters at Kozachi Lageri, which translates to English as "Cossack Camps," almost certainly in Rostov, where Russia's 150th Motor Rifle Division is located.
British officials said Rosgvardiya would use Wagner troops to "reinforce Russia's war effort in Ukraine and expand Russian influence in Africa," with the mercenaries under Prigozhin having given the Kremlin a foothold on the continent.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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
