Strelkov, following the army, attacked the Wagner PMC
Former DPR Defense Minister Igor Strelkov, who regularly criticizes army generals for the slow progress of the military defense in Ukraine, has now attacked the Wagner PMC.
Strelkov stated this on the Roy TV internet channel, explaining why he did not join the PMC after failing to get to the front as part of the regular army, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Wagner” is really actively recruiting people, people really go there, and people also flee from there, for various reasons. I talked to many who were in Wagner - both in Syria and in Africa, and during the current military campaign too. All these people are different, with different motivations, and reasons for coming to Wagner and leaving Wagner.
I didn’t want to join Wagner, I never wanted to be a mercenary. Meanwhile, the internal ideology that existed in Wagner, at least before the start of the current campaign, is purely mercenary - pay us good money, we will fight, and for whom - in general, it doesn’t matter where – it doesn’t matter either. Who we kill for this money – we don’t care at all. This was the ideology of “Wagner” at least until February 24 of this year.
I didn’t want to go to the front under such an ideology, which is why I first tried to get into the Russian Armed Forces, albeit crookedly, but not at all by vile or criminal means, then I tried to get in through another private military campaign, which only acts on Ukrainian front, and to which system the current 22nd “Bars” belongs, which until recently was called the “Nevsky Battalion”. Then I tried to get into the mobilized Donbass.
It’s not entirely clear to me why the Donbass mobilized fighters or PMC fighters, or ordinary soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces are worse than Wagner fighters? Well, because they don’t get that much money or don’t participate in assault operations? Well, I’m now, frankly speaking, a bad stormtrooper, if we talk about a private. I understood this very well at the beginning of this campaign. And in order to realize yourself as a commander of any level in Wagner, you need an invitation from Wagner. It’s like that there, they don’t take commanders from the street, everything is fine with the commanders there.
There is a constant shortage of infantry there, which is lost during frontal assaults from Popasnaya to Bakhmut, not counting all the other areas where Wagner is fighting,” Strelkov said.
At the same time, Strelkov criticized the leadership of the PMC for the tactics of fighting, which, in his opinion, lead to excessive casualties:
“Recently I came across an interactive map of the progress of the same Wagner over the past 10 months. There they, of course, lied about something, however, no one will deny, and I least of all, that “Wagner”, indeed, with heavy battles, assault operations, primarily, advanced, relatively speaking, from the eastern outskirts Popasnoy, from Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, advanced to the outskirts of Bakhmut and Soledar, and continues to storm Bakhmut.
There, in this interactive map, it is shown where Wagner attacks, how it advances, how it takes settlements, positions, and regions. I looked carefully and did not see a single environment there, not even a tactical one.
Moreover, with all my attitude towards Wagner, there are many questions for its leadership. At the same time, I have no complaints about the fighting qualities. A question for those who set such tasks for them. If you imagine that 12 Wagner detachments are 12 BTGs, assault troops, that’s six brigades or two divisions. With their forces to break through a front somewhere, to break through well, and to introduce other motorized units with greater strategic goals and objectives into this breakthrough, then this could achieve much more at the current time than displacing the enemy from positions without defeating and destroying him.
Because Wagner was unable to destroy a single enemy formation. Yes, they were defeated, with huge losses they were withdrawn to the rear, where they were replenished again and again they were brought into battle. Is this the goal of military strategy?
Only our real “combat generals” fight this way - all over the world it has always been customary to fight differently. The goal is not to dislodge the enemy, the goal is to defeat and destroy him. And the less losses and in less time this operation is carried out, the greater the honor and glory, the recognition of the merits of those generals who were able to do this,” Strelkov explained.
Strelkov , following the army, attacks the Wagner PMC.