https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/wagner-mercenaries-killed-in-ambush-during-battle-for-bakhmut-video/ar-AA15myot?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=49bf06ba9bdd4aba929efd65032ff886Agroup of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries was killed in an ambush in the battle for the strategically important city of Bakhmut, video footage from the battlefield shows.
In the graphic video, shared with Newsweek, members of the Georgian Legion fighting on behalf of Ukraine could be seen firing at Russian forces from trenches near the city in eastern Ukraine.
Soldiers could be seen firing shots from a wooded area before the video cut to another section of woodland.
Seconds later, legion soldiers could be seen walking toward a number of dead bodies on the floor of the woodland.
Soldiers then collected weapons and items from the dead soldiers, including what appeared to be documents, before returning to small pits dug to defend against enemy fire.
Georgian Legion commander Mamuka Mamulashvili told Newsweek that his forces, which are composed of Ukrainian and Georgian soldiers, had killed 11 mercenaries of the Wagner Group in an ambush.
The ambush represents another blow for the mercenary group that saw its headquarters in a hotel in the city of Kadiivka, in the Luhansk region, being heavily damaged in an attack.
Russia's Wagner Group is a mercenary organization that has taken part in numerous conflicts around the world and has been accused of carrying out war crimes in Central African Republic.
Members of the paramilitary outfit had assisted separatist forces in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics between 2014 and 2015. Its leader, Dmitry Utkin, has been photographed with Nazi tattoos.
Mamulashvili added that the Georgian Legion took seven pieces of heavy technical equipment during the same ambush.
When asked about the impact of the ambush and what it means for the war effort, Mamulashvili told Newsweek: "It means one usual day, not more. We do it daily."
The Georgian Legion has been accused of war crimes during the war in Ukraine. Mamulashvili strongly denied that the legion was involved in an incident involving Russian prisoners of war in the village of Makiivka.
He told the Georgian outlet Civil Georgia that the claim was "Russian disinformation" and that it was "not the first such case."
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said in a December 15 report that the battle for Bakhmut has been grueling for Russian forces who "currently advance no more than 100-200 meters a day after concentrating their main efforts there."
It added that Russia has not established air superiority or air supremacy in Ukraine and has "largely exhausted its precision-guided munitions arsenal."
Russia has been trying for months to conquer the small city in the Donetsk region, one of the four regions it annexed in September through widely condemned referendums.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on December 10 that Russian shelling had reduced the city to ruins. The fate of the city remains unclear, with contradictory information coming out about it being on the brink of falling to Russian troops.
Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for comment.
According to the December 15 ISW report, Russian media outlets said officials in the country refuse to recognize Wagner Group members as participants in the war in Ukraine.
"The outlets reported that authorities in Smolny, St. Petersburg, are not allowing the burial of a Wagner Group member in the Alley of Heroes at the Beloostrovsky cemetery, claiming that he is not a servicemember of the Russian Armed Forces, the report added.
"A Russian media source claimed that St. Petersburg authorities proposed to bury the soldier in a newly established Alley of Valor, which Wagner Group financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin opposed by promising that the individual will be buried in the Alley of Heroes."
In October, the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) said the Wagner Group appeared to have changed the way it recruits soldiers and that it had even taken in convicts with HIV and Hepatitis C.
The MOD said in an October 30 update: "On 27 October 2022, Russian mogul Yevgeny Prigozhin posted online, apparently admitting allegations that his private military company, the Wagner Group, had altered its standards and was recruiting Russian convicts suffering from serious diseases including HIV and Hepatitis C.
"The role of the Wagner Group has evolved significantly since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In previous conflicts, it maintained relatively high recruitment standards, with many of its operators having previously served as professional Russian soldiers. The admission of prisoners with serious medical concerns highlights an approach which now prioritizes numbers over experience or quality."
