Half of Wagner PMC consists of prisoners – General Staff report

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA — TUESDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2022, 15:58

Russia continues to replenish its losses in Ukraine by drawing on prisoners; more than half of the Wagner private military company [PMC] consists of mercenaries of this category.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as of 18:00 on 18 October

Quote: "Despite the preliminary reservation of the list of employees of critical infrastructure companies of the Russian Federation, the heads of such companies are still receiving plans that they are forced to carry out. That’s why they send their employees to the military enlistment offices.

The replenishment of losses by Russian units by using prisoners continues. As of early October, more than half of all the 8,000 fighters of the Wagner private military company are mercenaries of that category".

Details: In addition, Belarus continues to support Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine by providing its own infrastructure and airspace. The threat of missile and airstrikes, as well as of the use of Shahed-136 attack UAVs from the territory of Belarus, remains. Covert mobilisation for the Armed Forces of Belarus continues, under the guise of training sessions. According to available information, measures are being taken to train operators of anti-aircraft missile systems and tank crews.

The General Staff reports that during the day [18 October – ed.], units of the defence forces repelled the attacks by the occupiers in the areas of following settlements: Ohirtseve (Kharkiv Oblast); Bilohorivka (Luhansk Oblast); Novokalynove and Marinka (Donetsk Oblast). The Russian army is trying to keep the temporarily captured territories, and concentrates efforts on restraining the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on certain fronts; at the same time, it has not abandoned attempts to conduct offensive actions on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts. 

The Russian forces are attacking positions of Ukrainian troops along the contact line, carrying out engineering equipment of defensive positions and boundaries in separate areas and conducting aerial reconnaissance. Violating the norms of International Humanitarian Law, the laws and customs of war, they continue to strike critical infrastructure and homes of civilians.

During the current day, the Russian army launched 9 missile attacks and 10 air strikes; they also carried out more than 10 attacks from MLRS.

The invaders hit the vicinities of more than 10 settlements; the list includes areas near Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kurakhove (Donetsk Oblast) and Trykhaty (Mykolaiv Oblast). For that purpose, the Russian forces used cruise, air-to-ground and anti-aircraft guided missiles. In addition, on one of the fronts, the occupiers used 4 Iranian-made Shahed-136 strike drones; three of these were shot down by units of the defence forces.

The situation on the Volyn and Polissia fronts has not changed significantly. The Russian forces opened fire on other fronts:

• on the Sivershchyna front, Russian forces used tubed artillery to shell Yunakivka (Sumy Oblast);
• on the Slobozhanshchyna front, they used mortars, tubed and rocket artillery, in the vicinity of the settlements of Vovchanski Khutory, Hryhorivka, Komisariv, Ohirtseve, Starytsia, and Strilecha;
• on the Kupiansk front, Russian forces fired from artillery of various types near the settlements of Berestove, Hrianykivka, Dvorichna, Kamianka, Krasne, Kyslivka, Kotliarivka and Stelmakhivka;
• on the Lyman front, Russians fired from mortars, tubed and rocket artillery, near Bilohorivka, Hrekivka, Zarichne, Kovalivka, Nadiia, Novoiehorivka, Olhivka and Torske.
• on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts, the Russian forces fired tanks and artillery along the contact line. The settlements of Bakhmut, Soledar, Pervomaiske and Velyka Novosilka were directly affected.
• on the Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia fronts, the Russians fired mortars, tubed and rocket artillery on the settlements of Pavlivka and Prechystivka.
• on the Pivdennyi Buh front, the Russian forces are trying to improve logistical support, attacking military and civilian infrastructure. Settlements along the contact line, including Vyshchetarasivka (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast), were damaged by fire.

Combat aircraft of the defence forces of Ukraine carried out 20 strikes during the day. It was confirmed that 13 clusters of weapons and military equipment, a support point, as well as 7 positions of the Russian forces’ anti-aircraft missile systems were hit. In addition, air defence units shot down 5 cruise missiles.

Soldiers of Ukraine’s Rocket Forces and Artillery hit two control points, two areas of concentration of manpower, weapons and military equipment, two air defence and artillery facilities, two ammunition storage points and other military targets of the Russian army.

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