The Wagner Group fighters captured by the rebels in July this year are probably already dead.
Reuters reports this, citing information obtained from various sources.
The exact number of prisoners has not been established, but it is assumed that there were at least two, and possibly more.
In particular, representatives of the “Wagner group” informed the families of the prisoners that their loved ones had died. The publication also refers to messages on Telegram from the brother of one of the mercenaries and the words of relatives of three more prisoners, who confirmed that their loved ones did not survive captivity.
However, a Tuareg spokesman denied this information and stated that the captured Russians and Malian army soldiers were still alive.
“All our prisoners are alive. Wagner is lying,” he said, but provided no evidence to support his words.
At first, the Wagner Group said that most of the fighters who participated in the battle were missing, but with the help of open sources and facial analysis, Reuters was able to identify 31 mercenaries who went missing or were captured after the skirmish with the Tuaregs. . Despite acknowledging losses during the fighting, Wagner did not provide specific information on the number of dead. Furthermore, the Malian army, fighting alongside the Russians, did not announce its losses. The Tuareg rebels said they had killed 84 Russians. 47 Malians, while at least two Russians were called prisoners.
Wagner’s defeat in Mali occurred at the end of July, when the Tuaregs inflicted significant damage on the local junta that seized power in the country and the mercenaries of the Russian private military company. During the several-day battles, the rebels captured not only equipment, but also prisoners, including Russians. It later emerged that the Tuaregs also shot down two Wagner helicopters.
Recall that Kursor wrote that the Russians have sufficient resource reserves on the territory of Ukraine to carry out offensive operations in several directions at once over the coming months. However, according to military expert Oleg Zhdanov, it is unlikely that they will be able to find additional resources for future active operations.
