Wagner Mercenaries Turn Against Russia in Avdiivka Night Assault - Christian Baghai (Medium)

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Wagner Mercenaries Turn Against Russia in Avdiivka Night Assault

Christian Baghai

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3 min read·4 days ago

In a stunning turn of events, former Wagner mercenaries have joined forces with Ukraine to launch a daring night assault on Russian positions in Avdiivka, a strategic town in the Donbas region. The attack was reportedly orchestrated by the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), a paramilitary unit of Russian citizens based in Ukraine, who are fighting against the government of Vladimir Putin

The RVC claims to have ex-Wagner troops and former soldiers from Russia’s Storm Z prisoner battalions among its ranks. Wagner is a notorious Russian private military company that has been involved in conflicts in Syria, Libya, Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Storm Z is a program that recruits prisoners from Russian jails to fight in Ukraine, in exchange for pardons.

According to a video released by the RVC, the mercenaries rode into battle in US-made Bradley fighting vehicles, which were supplied by Ukraine as part of a military aid package. They then stormed the Russian trenches with guns and grenades, killing and wounding several enemy soldiers. They not only took the trenches, but repelled four counter-attacks and captured a Russian sergeant.

Ukrainian sources said the Wagner fighters “proved themselves to be excellent”, fighting side-by-side with the Ukrainians and “showing commanding qualities”. They also praised the RVC for its professionalism and discipline, saying that the group was not a part of the Ukrainian armed forces, but a “reliable ally”.

The RVC says it is made up of ethnic Russians who are opposed to Putin’s regime and its imperial ambitions. It uses the symbols of the Russian Liberation Army, a collaborationist force that fought with Nazi Germany during World War II. The group’s leader is Denis Kapustin, a neo-Nazi who was banned from the Schengen Area in 2019.

The night assault in Avdiivka is the latest in a series of cross-border raids that the RVC has been conducting since March 2023, when it claimed responsibility for a similar attack in the Bryansk region of Russia. The group says it aims to overthrow Putin’s government and establish a “smaller, ethnic Russian state” that respects the self-determination of Russia’s various ethnic minorities.

The RVC’s actions have provoked a strong reaction from Moscow, which has denounced the group as a “terrorist organization” and accused Kyiv of supporting it. Russia has also vowed to retaliate with “full force” against any further incursions into its territory.