According to some estimates, at one time at the front, at least 150 Russian soldiers were killed per day. Sometimes even more. The amount would be enough to fill one cemetery per day.
A simple wooden Orthodox cross and a Wagner army wreath decorated in bright colors.
Such is the grave of a soldier of the dreaded Russian mercenary army. News agency Reuters was able to visit Wagner’s cemetery filled with soldiers in Bakinskaya village in Krasnodar recently.
There are about two hundred graves.
The cemetery has filled up quickly. The first pictures and videos of the graves appeared on social media in December.
Reuters found out from satellite images that the cemetery was still empty in June. At the end of November there were three rows of graves, at the beginning of January three quarters of the graves were used and the rest on January 24th.
Citizens of many different countries are buried in the cemetery
Reuters managed to find out the personal information of at least 39 people who died in the war from the data of the Russian judiciary, public information sources and social media accounts.
Reuters also reached out to family members, friends and some lawyers of the dead.
Many of those buried – if not all – appear to be the leader of the Wagner army, Yevgeny Prigozhin prisoners recruited from Russian prisons.
Prigozhin promised the prisoners an amnesty if they survived six months at the front. Many seem to have taken up the offer. According to Reuters’ estimate, there would be as many as 40,000 prisoners fighting in the mercenary army.
Among them are hitmen, murderers, criminals, thieves, drug users and extortionists. Some are said to have had an alcohol problem.
Among the buried are at least Moldovans, Ukrainians and Georgians.
The oldest of the fallen soldiers is already 60 years old
The youngest of those buried is 25 years old. According to Reuters, the oldest person buried is already a 60-year-old man. Reuters found out the man’s criminal history: he went to prison for a year and a half for burglary. He had been convicted in May 2022 of stealing two tools from the garage.
Reuters reached his wife, who confirmed that her husband had died in Wagner’s ranks in Ukraine. The man would have just been released. The man’s wife had not even known that her husband had joined Wagner.
According to the authorities of Western countries and Ukraine, Wagner has considered the prisoners fighting in his ranks as cannon fodder.
Wagner also seems to be in some sort of competition with the Russian military. For example, in connection with the capture of Soledar, Wagner emphasized in the video he published on the Telegram messaging service that it was its soldiers who captured Soledar, and not the Russian army.
Wagner has played a big role in the fighting, especially in the Bahmut region, where Soledar is, said Docent of Military Sciences, Alexander Institute Visiting Researcher Ilmari Käihkö. Wagner has used fighters he recruited from prisons on the Bahmut front.
The United States has condemned the mercenary army as a criminal organization that blatantly violates human rights.
Prigozhin then asked the White House spokesperson to specify what crimes Wagner has committed.
Prigozhin: They preferred to be buried here
But why haven’t the dead been returned to their families?
According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Prigozhin had said that before his death, the soldiers had wished to be buried in this cemetery.
Prigozhin himself visited the cemetery to lay flowers on one of the graves in early January.
Russian authorities and Prigozhin did not respond to Reuters’ requests for an interview
Source: Reuters