(NewsReady.com) – The Wagner Group is a shadowy paramilitary force in Russia that’s known for its brutal tactics. Mercenaries for the organization have been involved in a number of conflicts, including the war in Ukraine. Recently, the group claimed it came under fire — from the Russian military.
According to POLITICO, the Wagner Group posted about the incident on the social media site, Telegram. They claimed Russian soldiers fired on their vehicle while they were ear Bakhmut, a town in Ukraine.
Wagner mercenaries claimed they captured the Russian commander of the army’s 72nd brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel Roman Gennadievich Venivitin. In a video shared on Telegram, where he appeared to have been assaulted, the commander seemingly confessed to the shooting. He reportedly said he was drunk when it went down, and he fired on them because he didn’t like the group.
The incident happened as Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin remains involved in an ongoing fight with Russian military leaders. He has accused officials of not giving his mercenaries ammunition while they’ve fought in Bakhmut. Prigozhin has recently attacked the Kremlin’s claims of victory in the Ukrainian town, calling them “science fiction.” He’s also reportedly called the military leaders “clowns.”
The alleged capture of the Russian commander came after the Wagner Group released a statement that a commander of the group signed a statement accusing the military of mining the roads in the area where the mercenaries were positioned. The group was clearing mines in the roadways when they came under attack by “small arms fire.”
An analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, Kateryna Stepanenko, told Business Insider that Prigozhin is valuable to the Russian government now, but that could change if he “does not reconstitute his forces.” She said his recent rants could be an indication that he knows he’s vulnerable. For now, she thinks he will maintain his position in “ultranationalist spaces,” but that could change.
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