Imprisoned Russians fighting in Ukraine told CNN about heavy losses, lack of medical care and possible executions. All of them claim that they were recruited directly by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Journalists talked to several prisoners who fought as part of unit number 08807. In October, their group, known as the "Sturm" brigade, was sent to the front line near Soledar. One of the interlocutors of CNN described the catastrophic losses.
"Our group consisted of 130 fighters, but we also have a lot of amputees, probably 40 people left," he noted. The Russian also said that he was sent back to the front when his wounds had not yet healed.
"No one is operated on here. People are walking around [the hospital] with bullet wounds, shrapnel stuck in their legs," says the former prisoner-turned-occupier.
CNN also learned about the death of Viktor Sevalnyov, a prisoner recruited by the Ministry of Defense. After the assault on Soledar, Sevalnyov went to the hospital, where he recorded his last audio message to his wife. The Russian said that he was threatened to be shot.
"They are going to shoot me. We lost a lot of people there. No need to send anyone else here. They want to kill us all," journalists quoted Sevalnyov as saying.
A few days after the recording of this message, Sevalnyovʼs body was returned to his wife in a closed coffin. The Russian Ministry of Defense explained that the former prisoner died from a shrapnel wound.
A representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (MDI) Andrii Usov confirmed that the Russians, who are now in Ukrainian captivity, were, according to them, recruited by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
"They stress that they are not the PMC "Wagner", that they were officially invited by the Ministry of Defense," Usov said.
He added that this is "an echo of the internal strife in the Russian military leadership." According to Usov, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Serhiy Shoigu and the commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine Valerii Herasimov are creating a resource from the prisoners in order to directly manage them through their own PMCs.
- On February 6, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recognized the PMC "Wagner" and all other Russian private military companies as terrorist organizations.
- On February 7, Ukrainian military intelligence, citing the order signed by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mykhailo Mishustin, reported that the Russian Gazprom is creating its own private military company.