Wagner Group recruits prison inmates – 250 inmates are to build tanks
Created: 11/30/2022 05:03
By: Tim Vincent Dicke, Nadja Austel
Is Putin running out of long-range missiles?
And: Russia could face a new loss of territory in Ukraine.
The news ticker.
According to Ukraine:
The Russian arms stockpile is coming to an end.
Satellite images emerge:
Russia is making 'obvious preparation' for withdrawal.
Editor's note:
Read the latest developments in the Ukraine conflict in our news ticker.
The information on the Ukraine war processed here comes partly from the warring parties in Russia and Ukraine.
They can therefore not be independently checked in part.
+++ 9:05 p.m .:
According to reports from the Russian prison service in Sverdlovsk and the independent media portal
Important Stories
, Russia is using 250 convicted prisoners for forced labor in the world’s largest tank factory, UralWagonZavod.
The prisoners are said to work as machine tool operators, drills, lathe operators, milling cutters, grinding machine operators, electric welders, mechanics and crane operators.
The media state that the detainees will be employed on unskilled work and will not have access to classified information.
According to
Ukrainska Pravda
, UralWagonZavod is the only plant in Russia that produces T-72 and T-90 tanks.
After the start of the war, production was switched to three-shift operation, and the plant has been working around the clock since August.
Up to 40 percent of Russian tanks have already been destroyed in the war with Ukraine.
Russian prisoners are supposed to help out with tank construction.
(icon picture).
© IMAGO / SNA
Russian losses in the Ukraine War: Wagner Group recruits prison inmates
+++ 19:05:
Russia's Wagner group is currently freeing men imprisoned in the Central African Republic for murder and rape, among other things, in order to use them as mercenaries in the Ukraine war.
This emerges from a report by
The Daily Beast
.
The Wagner group had previously used prisoners to fight the Ukrainian army.
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
View photo gallery
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, has visited Russian prisons several times in the past to recruit serious criminals for the war.
Since then, the Russian has been accused of recruiting men in prison camps to fight in Ukraine without a legal basis – due to a lack of personnel at the front.
Ukraine War News: Russian Withdrawal Kherson Region
+++ 4.31 p.m .:
After the Russian retreat in the southern region around the recently liberated city of Cherson, Ukrainians find evidence of war crimes allegedly committed by Russian soldiers.
A mass grave has been discovered in Pravdyne, a village near Kherson,
The
New York Times reports.
"They were Ukrainians," prosecutor Kostiantyn Podoliak told the US daily.
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"They're coming at us like zombies"
Along the banks of the Kherson river, people are crowded behind walls, writes the
New York Times
.
The official rumor was that Russian snipers hiding about a mile away were shooting at civilians scooping water from the river.
"They are trying to terrorize us," said Oleksandr Samoylenko, a politician and head of the Kherson regional council.
"And until we liberate the Kherson region, Kherson itself will not really be liberated."
News about the Ukraine war: Russian arms stockpile is coming to an end
+++ 2.46 p.m .:
Ukraine has been preparing for a massive Russian attack from the air for days.
The reason for this is the relocation of warships in the Black Sea, which is causing concerns in Kyiv to grow.
“Terrorism is afoot.
Apparently the Russian fascists are preparing a new rocket attack.
But the Ukrainians are ready to repel another airstrike," said Yuri Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command.
According to the Ukrainian spokesman, Russian arms stocks are running low - so there is optimism.
"Is it even possible to scare us with anything else?
Also, there aren't that many long-range, high-precision missiles left to attack our rear areas with," Ihnat said.
Ukraine war news: Russia makes 'obvious preparation' for withdrawal
Update from Tuesday, November 29, 11:17 a.m .:
Russia continues to come under pressure in the Ukraine war.
Russian troops are now digging trenches in the east of the Cherson region in preparation for a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
This is reported by the think tank Institute for the Study of War
(ISW)
, which specializes in defense issues .
Satellite images taken by the US company Maxar on November 15 show that Russian forces have been digging trench lines and so-called concentration zones in eastern Cherson since the beginning of October.
ISW
experts see
this as "obvious preparation" for a withdrawal from the west bank of the Dnieper.
Should that actually happen, the recently liberated city of Kherson would no longer be directly threatened by the occupying forces.
"Russian forces clearly do not expect to be able to prevent Ukrainian forces from crossing the river," the military experts said.
Therefore they did not set up any positions to prevent such an advance.
On the contrary, Russia is getting even more clearly on the defensive in the area around Cherson and is preparing for “a protracted defence”.
Ukraine war news: Ukraine kills 480 soldiers and shoots down fighter jets
First report from Tuesday, November 29:
Kiev – The Russian military can still not report any major gains in territory in the Ukraine war.
On the contrary: the loss of the strategically important port city of Cherson still weighs heavily.
Every day, more and more soldiers are dying in the service of Russia.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has now released the latest figures on Russian army losses.
Data shows that hundreds of soldiers continue to lose their lives in combat every day.
According to the ministry in Kyiv, 480 Russian fighters died within 24 hours.
In addition, three tanks, two artillery systems and two fighter jets were destroyed.
News about the Ukraine war: Russia's losses are so high
Soldiers:
88,380 (+480 on the previous day)
Aircraft:
280 (+2)
Helicopters:
261
Tanks:
2911 (+3)
Armored fighting vehicles:
5866 (+5)
Artillery Systems:
1901 (+2)
Air defense systems:
209
Multiple Rocket Launchers:
395
Cars and other vehicles:
4423 (+7)
Ships:
16
Unmanned Combat Drones:
1555
(as of Tuesday, November 29)
The information on Russia's losses in the Ukraine war comes from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
They cannot be independently verified.
The Kremlin itself gives very little information about its own losses.
Meanwhile, according to British estimates, Russia has moved away from its basic military and tactical concept - the reason being the heavy defeats of the troops of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
In the past three months, the Russian forces in Ukraine have largely stopped appearing as tactical battalion groups (BTG), the Ministry of Defense said in London, citing intelligence findings.
News about the Ukraine war: Russia is struggling with big problems
The high-intensity fighting over a wide area would have revealed several errors in the concept.
"The relatively small allocation of infantry to the BTG has often proved insufficient." In addition, the decentralized distribution of artillery did not allow Russia to exploit its quantitative advantage with this important weapon.
Only a few commanders have permission to use the model flexibly, it said in London.
The BTG concept is a central pillar of Russian military doctrine in recent years.
Each tactical unit is equipped with infantry, anti-aircraft, artillery, logistics and reconnaissance units.
(with agencies)
