Russia's Wagner boss says more than 20,000 of his fighters died in Bakhmut battle
The head of the Russian private army Wagner says his force lost more than 20,000 men in the drawn-out battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut KYIV, Ukraine -- The head of the Russian private army Wagner says his force lost more than 20,000 men in the drawn-out battle for Bakhmut. He said about half of those who died in the eastern Ukrainian city were Russian convicts recruited to fight in the 15-month-old war. The figure stood in stark contrast to the widely disputed claims from Moscow that just over 6,000 of its troops were killed in the war as of January. That compares with official Soviet losses in the Afghanistan war of 15,000 troops between 1979-89. Ukraine hasn’t said how many of its soldiers have died since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Analysts believe the nine-month fight for Bakhmut alone has cost the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, among them convicts who reportedly received little training before being sent to the front. Russia’s invasion...