Vladimir Putin’s tactical blunders in his Ukraine war continue to stack up with the Russian president theatrically signing annexation papers for regions of Ukraine that are increasingly being liberated from Russian control. The regime’s soldiers don’t want to be fighting in this conflict, and no one can blame how more citizens fled to other countries than cooperated with the partial mobilization process. Ukraine’s recent stunning advances led to pushing Russia out of an Eastern stronghold and taking back more Southern territory. Kyiv and other major cities appear to be out of reach for Putin, and so, the Kremlin hired some mercenaries, who are apparently not doing too well, either.
According to the Daily Beast, Russia’s actually trying to cover up an embarrassing incident, in which a Wagner mercenary fighter (and this private army has been stuffed with “hundreds of prison inmates”) accidentally killed a Russian lieutenant-colonel. This private military has apparently been clashing with actual Russian troops, and it’s adding to the existing ugliness:
The growing conflict resulted in a Wagner fighter gunning down a lieutenant colonel in the Russian army — a deadly episode of “friendly fire” that the Kremlin is said to be trying to sweep under the rug, according to the human rights group Gulagu.net.
“They are trying to hush up the incident and prevent publicity. And this is not the first emergency of its kind,” the group quoted a source as telling the Gulagu.net hotline.
The incident was also reported by two other Russian Telegram channels, though no details were provided on when or where the shooting is said to have taken place.
That’s not all. The Daily Beast also reports upon a “mass brawl” between new Russian draftees and these mercenary fighters with the former group pouncing upon the latter. The source of conflict, reportedly, is that the private army has received actual gear and mobile phones, which (of course) looks even worse for Russia, given the video footage of new draftees being told to bring tampons to treat their own (virtually certain) bullet wounds. It’s no wonder that former (and powerful) Putin supporters are now distancing themselves from the conflict, which has been ongoing for seven months and counting.
(Via The Daily Beast)