This Monday, August 15, Ukraine announced with satisfaction that it had destroyed the secret headquarters of the Wagner group. This is an organization of mercenaries who fight alongside Russian troops. But how did the Ukrainians manage to find this supposedly untraceable place?
In reality, it would be a gross mistake by a pro-Russian journalist: Sergei Sreda. This is according to the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Hayday. Indeed, the journalist had posted on Telegram images of him with other mercenaries during a visit to Donbass. On one of the pictures, we could see the name of the street where the paramilitaries were in the town of Popasna. Quickly, the photos had been deleted. But copies were still circulating on social networks. To catch up, Sergei Sreda had claimed to have revealed the address of the Wagner headquarters in agreement with the group.
Several independent media, such as Radio Liberty and the Russian news site Meduza, confirmed that the Ukrainian defense had indeed struck in the same place as in the photo. Difficult on the other hand to specify the number of deaths which this attack made. Governor Hayday mentions a hundred deaths. Radio Liberty estimates that a Russian oligarch, Evgeny Prigozhin, was hit in this attack. Considered the “chef” of the Kremlin, he was very close to Putin. This was denied by the state news agency RIA Novosti.
The Wagner organization is an important pawn for Russia and has notably played a valuable role in obtaining the towns of Popasna and Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine. They have also been sent to Syria, Mali and the Central African Republic. They are accused of war crimes and human rights violations.