Fighting Wagner is like a 'zombie movie' says Ukrainian soldier - CNN report

[BootinUp]

Near Bakhmut, Ukraine
CNN
—
Southwest of the city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers Andriy and Borisych live in a candle-lit bunker cut into the frozen earth. For several weeks they have been confronting hundreds of fighters belonging to the Russian private military contractor Wagner throwing themselves against Ukrainian defenses.

Disguised in a balaclava, Andriy recounts one seemingly endless firefight when they came under attack by a flood of Wagner fighters.

“We were fighting for about 10 hours in a row. And it wasn’t like just waves, it was uninterrupted. So it was just like they didn’t stop coming.”

Their AK-47 rifles became so hot from constant firing, Andriy says, that they had to keep changing them.

“It was about 20 soldiers on our side. And let’s say 200 from their side,” he says.

The Wagner way of war is to send a first wave of attackers that mainly comprises raw recruits straight out of Russian prisons. They know little of military tactics and are poorly equipped. Most just hope that if they survive their six-month contract they can go home rather than back to a cell

Video report at the link

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/01/europe/ukraine-soldiers-fighting-wagner-intl-cmd/index.html

[Aussie105]

1. Tells you how desperate Putin is to succeed

with his 'special military operation'.

Will he stop once he runs out of foot soldiers and weapons of war?

[BootinUp]

2. I'm sticking with my original prediction

That he is out of power and not by choice 2-3 years after the invasion/special military operation began.

[Best_man23]

3. "Their AK-47 rifles became so hot from constant firing... that they had to keep changing them"

This is eerily reminiscent of what US Marines went through at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. In that battle, Marines fired their Browning Automatic Rifles and machine guns to the point the barrels started to melt.

Sadly, the tactic of sending raw recruits or prisoners as a first wave is not new in warfare. Its done to try to deplete an opponents' ammunition stores and whittle down its force strength before sending in a main wave. Soviet armies in World War II did this against the Nazis with varying results.