According to the deputy chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, the Russian criminal army formed a separate unit from former "Wagner Group" mercenaries and threw them into meat assaults near Avdiivka in the Donetsk region.
What is known about the new Russian army's detachment from the former "Wagner Group" near Avdiivka
A volunteer corps of 18,000 people is currently being formed in the Russian Federation. These are, in particular, all the former "Wagner group" mercenaries, the Ministry of Defense manages this, — said Skibitskyi.
He emphasised that fighters from this unit already participate in hostilities in the Avdiivka region.
Skibitskyi added that Russia uses the "Veterans" brigade, a volunteer corps.
Indeed, they are actively used because they have combat experience. That is, you can see them on the battlefield now, — explains Skibitskyi.
The DIU representative noted that the former "Wagner Group" soldiers in the battles in the Avdiivka region used the same tactics as during the battles for Bakhmut.
It is about constant assault and achieving results at any cost.
As for the salary, it is almost the same there as in the Russian armed forces. But at "Wagner" the salary was higher, and "Wagner" highly valued its instructors and commanders, — said Skibitskyi.
The DIU representative also explained that the mercenaries imported by Russia from African countries and Syria do not want to participate in the war against Ukraine but use the opportunity to get to the EU countries in this way.
Nobody wants to go to war. They come here just to escape and get to Europe. Everyone thinks they are coming here to fight. But it is not. Trust me [on that], — said Skibitsky.
What is known about the situation with ammunition in the aggressor countries
Skibitskyi noted that Russia produced about 2 million munitions of 122 mm and 152 mm calibre last year. This year, Russia has a plan to increase production to 2.7 million.
Our estimate is as follows: the Russians produced last year — simply fulfilled a state defense order — this is about 2 million 122mm nf 152mm caliber ammunition. But these are plans. Let's see if they will be implemented, — said the DIU representative.
According to him, the declared goals require modernising production facilities, but Western sanctions hinder this.
We ask our partners that sanctions should be aimed at machines, at materials from which electronic chips, microcircuits, etc. are manufactured. So this is a very broad spectrum, and the DIU and our entire intelligence community are currently working in this direction. This applies to everything related to the production of weapons. And I am not talking about the number of enterprises that Russia has involved in production, — emphasised Skibitskyi.
