Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, the private military company Wagner has lost more than 30,000 mercenaries wounded and dead.
This was stated by White House Spokesman for National Security John Kirby at a briefing in Washington.
According to Kirby, out of more than 30,000 Wagner troopers, about 9,000 were killed, and about half of these 9,000 were killed since mid-December.
The spokesman of the White House emphasized that about 90% of the Wagner fighters who were killed in December were recruited from Russian prisons.
According to Kirby, Wagner relies heavily on convicts to replenish its ranks, despite Yevgeny Prigozhin's announcement to stop recruiting people in prisons.
"They (Wagner - ed.) treat their recruits, mostly convicts, like cannon fodder, throwing them, literally, into a meat grinder... He (Prigozhin - ed.) simply pulled them out of Gentiles and threw them onto the battlefield without preparation, without equipment, without organizational command, just threw them into battle," said Admiral Kirby.
At the same time, Kirby said that recently Wagner suffered heavy losses in fierce battles for Bakhmut.
According to him, after the intensification of fighting over the past few days, the Russian Federation achieved "gradual successes" in and around Bakhmut. At the same time, he noted, the U.S. cannot predict whether Russia will be able to break into the city.
But even if this happens, Kirby added, Bakhmut has no "real strategic value", and therefore the U.S. believes that Ukraine will maintain its strong defensive lines in the Donbas.
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