Ukraine hits Russian Wagner mercenary HQ in east

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Ukraine hits Russian Wagner mercenary HQ in east

15 August 2022

Ukrainian artillery has struck a headquarters of Russia's shadowy Wagner paramilitary group of mercenaries in eastern Ukraine, reports say.

The attack in Popasna was reported by Serhiy Hayday, Ukrainian governor of Luhansk region, and several pro-Kremlin war reporters.

The number of casualties is not clear and details remain sketchy. Photos said to show the damage were posted on the Telegram messaging service.

Wagner has been linked to war crimes.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62547403

[Lovie777]

1. I've been reading that the Wagner Group......

is a terrorist organization that enjoys torture, mutilations, rapes, killings, etc.

[BComplex]

2. Does Eric Prince have anything to do with them?

Or are they primarily competitors with this Wagner Group?

[erronis]

3. Guessing Prince is embroiled in the conflict in some way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group#Organization

Organization

In early 2016, Wagner had 1,000 employees,[3] which later rose to 5,000 by August 2017,[95] and 6,000 by December 2017.[4] The organization was said to be registered in Argentina[3][95] and also has offices in Saint Petersburg[96] and Hong Kong.[97]

In early October 2017, the SBU said that Wagner's funding in 2017 had been increased by 185 million rubles ($3.1 million) and that around forty Ukrainian nationals were working for Wagner, with the remaining 95 percent of the personnel being Russian citizens.[98] One Ukrainian was killed in Syria while fighting in the ranks of Wagner in March 2016,[99] and three were reported overall to have died that spring.[100] Armenians, Kazakhs and Moldovans have also worked for Wagner.[101]

Following the deployment of its contractors between 2017 and 2019, to Sudan,[22] the Central African Republic,[23] Madagascar,[102] Libya[30] and Mozambique,[34] the Wagner Group had offices in 20 African countries, including Eswatini, Lesotho and Botswana, by the end of 2019.[103] Early in 2020, Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater private military company, sought to provide military services to the Wagner Group in its operations in Libya and Mozambique, according to The Intercept.[104] By March 2021, Wagner PMCs were reportedly also deployed in Zimbabwe, Angola, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and possibly the Democratic Republic of Congo.[105]

[GB_RN]

4. Good.

If the Wagner Group can be decapitated, so much the better: This outfit does wet work/dirty work that Putin can’t/won’t assign to his own military and special forces. Limiting its ability to function necessarily limits Putin.

And if Eric Prince (R-POS), Betsy DeVos’ brother, is tied to them, I hope that can be proven. That fuck is a [war] criminal* in his own right, but any way he can be taken down, I’m all for it.

*Blackwater was tied to war crimes in Iraq and Prince himself was involved in setting up meetings between the Russians and the tRump campaign back in 2016 - in the Seychelles, IIRC.