Russia tasking mercenaries for front line as infantry losses in Ukraine mount, UK says
- UK Defence Ministry report says Russia is using Wagner Group mercenaries for ‘front line duties’
- Ukrainian forces are focused on recapturing the Kherson region, north of the Crimean Peninsula
Russia has tasked mercenaries to hold sections of the front line in Ukraine in a sign it is running short of combat infantry, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on Friday, as Kyiv steps up a counter-offensive in the south.
Greater reliance on paid fighters from the Russian private military company Wagner Group for front line duties rather than their usual work in special operations would be another sign that Russia’s military is under stress six months into its war in Ukraine.
But the British defence ministry said in an intelligence update that Wagner mercenaries were unlikely to make up for the loss of regular infantry units or alter the trajectory of Russia’s invasion.
“This is a significant change from the previous employment of the group since 2015, when it typically undertook missions distinct from overt, large-scale regular Russian military activity,” the ministry said on Twitter.
The Wagner Group is a shadowy network of mercenaries, widely described as the private army of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Wagner has also been active in conflicts in Syria, and has sent mercenaries to the Central African Republic and Sudan.
“The Russians are failing at the moment on the ground in many areas … Putin’s plan A, B, and C has failed and he may look to plan D,” Britain’s Defence Minister Ben Wallace said on Friday.