Russia's Wagner Group has suffered over 30,000 casualties in Ukraine, US says
Russia's mercenary company Wagner Group has suffered major losses since President Vladimir Putin launched the so-called special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, including more than 30,000 casualties and about 9,000 of those fighters killed in action, US officials said on Friday. The US estimates 90% of the private army's soldiers killed in Ukraine since December were poorly-trained convicts, White House National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday at a regular briefing. Wagner is widely recognised as a proxy for the Russian military and is possibly financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group's founder and a friend of Putin. The group used to be much smaller before the invasion, with just 5,000 fighters, most of whom were former soldiers with plenty of experience. However, since February 24, it has recruited scores of fighters as Russia had trouble finding troops for the war. Most of the newly recruited fighters were largely from pris...