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How did a group of experienced mercenaries known as Vlamidir Putin’s “private army” suffer such a serious attack, in a supposedly secret location, causing more than 100 deaths (according to Ukrainian forces)? The explanation may be as simple as it is unlikely: thanks to a couple of carelessly taken (and published) photographs.
There are those who consider the story bizarre and admit that it was staged, but the thesis also runs in Russia after Ukraine announced, on Monday, that it managed to reach a base of the Wagner group – a paramilitary group that has no formal existence, but that it has already been recognized by Putin — in Popasna, Lugansk (one of the self-proclaimed people’s republics in Ukraine supported by Russia). The attack resulted in the death of a hundred fighters and, according to unconfirmed rumors, including the leader of the movement, Yegveny Prigozhin.
Wagner group. Kremlin men-of-war to catch Zelensky
According to the Daily Telegraph, the explanation for the location of this secret place may lie in the publication, even innocent (and enthusiastic) of photographs of the place where they were installed by a Russian state television journalist. Days before, the pro-Kremlin journalist had published on his social networks (and it is seen in some publications that replicate these photographs) images that revealed the location of the base where the Wagner group was.
In one of them, as Twitter users point out, it is even possible to zoom in on the image to see the sign that indicates the street they are on. In others, appears the Russian oligarch Yegveny Prigozhin, who is believed to be close to Putin and leader of the group, who according to Ukrainian sources died after the attack – however, Nexta, a Belarusian channel, published photographs where he supposedly appears in the publication – Attack on the wreckage scene. .
Prigozhin, whose death is rumored in the Ukrainian media, walks through the ruins of Wagner’s base. pic.twitter.com/ZmfUWB6jKn
— NEXT (@nexta_tv) August 15, 2022
The journalist who published the photos also wrote on social networks about the contact he had with these operatives: “I arrived in Popasna. I went to the Wagner base. They welcomed me like family and told me some funny stories.”
But publishing the story will have had the effect of compiling the revelation of the location, which occurred just days before Ukraine managed to level the site using the Himars system, a high-precision rocket launch system sent by the United States.
It was the most elaborate site search ever done! ???? pic.twitter.com/R0WOlS2daV
— Leon Tuttle (@fxnkls) August 14, 2022
Ukraine confirmed the attack on Monday and the exiled governor of the Lugansk region, Serhiy Gaiday, went so far as to say that “clearly, the news will be good, with a number of victims around 100.” The attack has also sent shock waves through Russia. A Russian Telegram channel quoted by the Telegraph said on Monday that the Russian military was “unearthing” the fatalities in Popasna, captioning a photograph showing the remains.
On Telegram, some pro-Russian channels complained about the apparent ease with which a secret location was revealed and destroyed.
Other researchers, notably independent researcher Ruslan Leviev, found the story so bizarre that they hypothesized it was in fact a plan by Russia itself, classifying the photographs initially published by the journalist as too “staged” to be genuine. . “It seemed that the Russians were making an invitation to attack that place,” he warned, quoted by the same British newspaper.
Source: Observadora
