by foreign editor
The fallen mercenaries are buried in a cemetery not far from Krasnodar or in the group’s chapel. In recent weeks, the militia has lost hundreds of men in Donbass
In just a few months, the cemetery, where the mercenaries of the Wagner Group who died in combat are buried, was expanded considerably. This was revealed by satellite images of the location and research by the New York Times, which shows how heavy the losses of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s paramilitary group were on the fronts in Ukraine.
The expansion of the cemetery coincided with four months of fierce fighting in the Donbass, during which soldiers from the Moscow regular army and Wagner mercenaries tried to advance north. According to Washington intelligence, the militia has lost thousands of soldiers on the frontlines, 90 percent of whom are ex-convicts who were released from prison after agreeing to take up arms and being sent to Ukraine will.
A satellite image taken on Jan. 24 shows about 170 graves in the cemetery known as the burial place of Wagner’s dead. A number that has increased sevenfold compared to an image of the same cemetery taken two months ago.
The fact that the Wagner has its own cemetery is another sign of the growing importance of the militia in Russia and the attempt to surpass the regular army in reliability. The existence of the cemetery, located in the small village of Molkin a few kilometers southeast of Krasnodar, was revealed in December by Vitaly Wotanovsky, an activist and former Russian Air Force officer. Not far from Molkin is the main training center of the paramilitary formation.
A cemetery where Wagner buried his fighters killed in Ukraine has increased almost sevenfold in the last two months. @Maxar show satellite images. w/ @dim109, @bottidavid. More: https://t.co/1JQJ4mC8IQ pic.twitter.com/fnozX8R5Sb
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) January 25, 2023
Wotanovsky himself told the New York Times that he regularly visits various cemeteries to document how many Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine and that he would not have discovered the Molkin Cemetery if locals had not told him that where Wagner’s dead are buried. During a series of site visits, the activist photographed the new burials and shared the photos on his Telegram channel. Molkin residents also told him that many bodies were cremated.
It was Prigozhin himself who last September, when recruiting Russian prisoners, referred to a group cemetery and promised them to take care of their bodies: for those who do not know where to bury them, we will bury them near Wagner -Chapel. The video is part of the militia’s communications strategy, which launched an advertising campaign using videos and slogans following the invasion of Ukraine after years of operating covertly in countries including Syria, Libya and the Central African Republic. The UN and other human rights organizations have accused Wagner of killing civilians and carrying out mass executions.
Ten days after Wotanovsky made public the location of the cemetery, some pro-Kremlin media outlets released videos of Prigozhin amidst crosses laying wreaths in colors matching those of the Wagner symbol on the freshly dug mounds. At least 16 names on the crosses are in online databases listing people serving prison terms in Russia. Most likely died in fighting near Soledar and Bakhmut in Donetsk in recent weeks.
In another video, Prigozhin was filmed in the Wagner Chapel, eight kilometers from the cemetery. The pictures show 21 black walls, each with 42 niches: A number is engraved in each niche and various military decorations are hung up. It indicates that the remains, or at least memories, of hundreds of soldiers at Wagner are kept in the chapel. How many fell in Ukraine is unclear.
January 25, 2023 (change January 25, 2023 | 22:24)
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