Convicted kidnapper Dmitry Yermakov, 38, chose to fight for the Wagner Group in the hope of regaining his freedom. But he describes the Wagner soldiers’ life on the front line as “pure hell”. – Some of them vomit, some cry and some refuse to climb out of the trenches, he told Reuters. 38-year-old Dmitry Yermakov was convicted of kidnapping and served a 14-year sentence in a Russian prison. After 10 years behind bars, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, appeared at the rest yard – and bargained for the condemned men’s freedom. Although Dmitry Yermakov had already served most of his sentence, he accepted the proposal. After six months in the war, he would be a free man again. In an interview with Reuters, he describes that their unit was welcomed to Ukraine by “corpses torn to pieces”. – And what do they do then? Some vomit, some cry and some of them refuse to climb out of the trenches. Fear takes over, he says. Wagner has lost 30,000 soldiers Yermakov only managed to participate in the fighting for a few days before he was seriously injured. His experience is far from unique. In February, the White House announced that over 30,000 Wagner soldiers had been injured or killed on the front lines in Ukraine. A large majority of the dead Wagner soldiers have been recruited from prisons, according to US intelligence. – We estimate that Wagner lost 30,000 men in the fighting in Ukraine, of which approximately 9,000 have died, said John Kirby, a spokesman for the Pentagon at the time. According to American information, the private army has mainly lost men in connection with the fierce battles for the town of Bachmut. “You were a criminal – now you are a war hero” In a video published in Russian media, Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen sitting with four men. Some of them are missing legs and have other injuries. In the video, he praises the men for their efforts. – You were a criminal, now you are a war hero, he says. The video is the first of its kind, in which the Wagner leader meets pardoned prisoners who have been injured in combat. But it won’t be the last. According to experts, Russia lacks manpower on the front and Wagner’s tour of Russian prisons is an important part of the country’s ability to advance in Ukraine.
t4-general
Testimony of the Wagner soldier: People cry and vomit in trenches
