Russia is preparing to send even more Chechen soldiers and prisoners to Ukraine to fill the gaps that arose after the withdrawal of the PMC "Wagner" fighters from the war.
This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to representatives of European intelligence.
According to them, the departure of the "Wagnerians" will not change the course of the war in Ukraine, but Putinʼs desire to avoid full military mobilization means that Russia will send even more Chechens and prisoners to the front in the coming weeks. It is unclear how many additional troops Chechnya might provide. Chechen fighters have not yet shown any noticeable effectiveness during the war.
Currently, there are approximately 15 000 prisoners of war in the Russian army. Chechnya will not send many soldiers to war — 7 000 of its soldiers are already at the front, and another 2 400 are undergoing training.
Bloomberg writes that Russia transferred a large number of troops to Bakhmut after the "Wagnerians" announced their withdrawal from the city at the end of May. Currently, there is a shortage of Russian troops in the occupied regions of southern Ukraine.
- After the unsuccessful rebellion on June 23-24, the owner of the PMC “Wagner” Evgeny Prigozhin most likely went to Belarus, which was agreed upon by Lukashenko and Putin. Three options were officially offered to the fighters of the PMC "Wagner": go to Belarus, where a camp is already being prepared for them, go home or sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense.
- The Wall Street Journal wrote that the Russian authorities have decided to monitor the activities of the PMC Wagner abroad. The Kremlin announced to the authorities of Syria, the Central African Republic and Mali that it had taken the mercenaries under its control.
- On June 29, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov informed that the PMC "Wagner" would no longer fight in Ukraine.