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Ukraine strikes Wagner Group base in Donbas: report

09.06.2022 13:45
Ukraine’s forces have destroyed the local base of the Russian private military company the Wagner Group, according to reports on Thursday.
Ukraines forces have destroyed the local base of operations of the Russian private military company the Wagner Group, according to reports on Thursday.
Ukraine’s forces have destroyed the local base of operations of the Russian private military company the Wagner Group, according to reports on Thursday.PAP/EPA

The news was announced by Ukraine’s Unian news agency, the Polish tvp.info website reported.

According to Unian, the Wagner Group operated in Ukraine out of a stadium in the city of Kadiivka/Stakhanov, in the eastern Luhansk Oblast, Donbas region, as reported by tvp.info.

Ukraine strikes Wagner's base in Donbas

In a photograph posted by the Ukrainian journalist Roman Bochkala on the Telegram social messaging app, smoke is seen rising from this stadium, Unian reported, as quoted by tvp.info. 

Bochkala wrote: “the stadium that housed the base of the Wagner Group is burning,” tvp.info reported.

The journalist added that according to early reports, only one person survived the strike, Unian noted, as cited by tvp.info.

‘Putin’s private army’

The Wagner Group is a private paramilitary organisation with links to the pro-Kremlin businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, tvp.info wrote. The company has been dubbed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “private army.”

According to the Pentagon, Moscow enlisted the services of the Wagner Group for its current offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, tvp.info said.   

The European Union last year slapped sanctions on the Wagner Group for carrying out torture, executions and killings in Libya, Syria and the Donbas, among other locations, tvp info reported.

Officially, mercenary services are banned in Russia, the Polish website noted.    

Thursday is day 106 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(pm)

Source: tvp.infobbc.com