The head of Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, acknowledged on Thursday that his men were continuing to suffer casualties in the fighting in Ukraine, during a visit to a cemetery that, in his words, “is growing.”
A video released by his press service on Telegram shows Prigozhin standing in front of dozens of graves topped with crosses and laid with wreaths of flowers.
“Wagner fighters continue to be buried here and there is no problem with that so far. We will improve it and make this cemetery a memorial for future generations,” Prigozhin said. “Yes, (the cemetery) is growing. Those who fight sometimes die. That’s the way life goes,” he added.
Russia has communicated very little about the casualties it has suffered in Ukraine since the start of the offensive it unleashed in February 2022.
The latest official casualty figures released by the Russian Defence Ministry date from September 2022 and show 5,937 military personnel killed. This does not include Wagner fighters, who are not officially part of the army.
Western estimates suggest that Russian forces – the army, Wagner and Ukraine’s pro-Russian separatists – may have more than 150,000 dead and wounded among their ranks.
Wagner fighters are notably on the front line in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, where both sides have suffered heavy losses.
