According to a report, the private mercenary army "Group Wagner" received 2,500 drones from China.
These could now be used in Ukraine.
MOSCOW - The notorious private army "Group Wagner" has gained significant power since the start of the Ukraine war.
The mercenary of "Putin's cook", Yevgeny Prigozhin, recently caused a stir by capturing the embattled small town of Soledar.
With significant casualties, the mercenaries forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the area.
Prigozhin later compared the fighting to the Battle of Stalingrad.
Now Wagner seems to want to break new ground in warfare.
The mercenary group is currently busy building a drone army.
Ukraine war: Wagner group apparently builds drone swarm - with China's help
Particularly explosive: As reported by the British portal
Mirror
, the Wagner Group is receiving support from China.
According to the report, a total of 2,500 DJI drones were sent from Beijing to Moscow.
The quadrocopters (aircraft with four rotors) are actually products for private use.
The drones are equipped with a high-resolution camera for filming.
However, the Wagner group wants to use these to set up a kind of “drone swarm” that can carry out attacks on enemy positions in Ukraine.
For this purpose, the drones can be prepared by the mercenaries, for example with explosives.
The advantage: the drones are comparatively cheap.
The manufacturer offers the drone model for private customers for just 1,600 euros.
This means that the price of the flying objects is significantly lower than that of military drones.
For comparison, the price of the Shahed-136 kamikaze drones produced in Iran and used by the Russian army is estimated to be between 20,000 and 50,000 US dollars (approx. 18,000 - 45,000 euros) per unit.
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
2,500 drones delivered: Putin's mercenaries break new ground in the Ukraine war
But even if the drones are not equipped with explosives, they can be used for reconnaissance flights in enemy territory.
Due to the large numbers, the drone swarms can overcome the Ukrainian air defenses and spy on enemy positions.
These could then subsequently become the target of air raids or artillery strikes.
"The group is trying to develop a swarm platform for the coordinated and autonomous orchestration of drones with the 2,500 drones recently delivered from China," quoted Mirror from an intelligence report available to the portal.
Chinese drone delivery to Russia?
Probably secret meetings between Beijing and Moscow
According to the report, the Wagner Group worked with the Russian and Chinese secret services to procure the drones.
As the portal reports, meetings between Wagner representatives, Chinese cyber experts and Chinese and Russian secret service employees are said to have taken place in the run-up to the delivery.
Beijing has officially announced that it is not involved in the Ukraine war and does not support any of the warring parties.
However, the Communist Party blamed the US and NATO for the escalation in the war.
The build-up of drone swarms arguably underscores the growing influence of Wagner mercenaries in Russian warfare.
The mercenary group has now set up its own IT research and development center in St. Petersburg.
There, Prigozhin's mercenaries are apparently working on the establishment of so-called "bot farms" - based on the Chinese model.
The mercenary swarm drones are now added as a new project.
(fd)
