May 10, 202212:17 PM GMT
Last Updated 5 hours ago
Reuters


NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, France, May 10 (Reuters) - The Russian military's failure to seize the Ukrainian capital was inevitable because in the preceding years they had never directly faced a powerful enemy, according to a former mercenary with the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group who fought alongside the Russian army.

Marat Gabidullin took part in Wagner Group missions on the Kremlin's behalf in Syria and in a previous conflict in Ukraine, before deciding to go public about his experience inside the secretive private military company.

He quit the Wagner group in 2019, but several months before Russia launched the invasion on Feb. 24 Gabidullin, 55, said he received a call from a recruiter who invited him to go back to fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.

He refused, in part because, he said, he knew Russian forces were not up to the job, even though they trumpeted their arsenal of new weapons and their successes in Syria where they helped President Bashar al-Assad defeat an armed rebellion.

"They were caught completely by surprise that the Ukrainian army resisted so fiercely and that they faced the actual army," Gabidullin said about Russia's setbacks in Ukraine.

He said people he spoke to on the Russian side had told him they expected to face rag-tag militias when they invaded Ukraine, not well-drilled regular troops.

"I told them: 'Guys, that's a mistake'," said Gabidullin, who is now in France where he is publishing a book about his experiences fighting with the Wagner Group.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not know who Gabidullin was and whether he has ever been a member of private military companies.

"We, the state, the government, the Kremlin can not have anything to do with it," he said.

The Russian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

Gabidullin is part of a small but growing cohort of people in Russia with security backgrounds who have supported President Vladimir Putin's foreign incursions but now say the way the war is being conducted is incompetent.

Igor Girkin, who helped lead a pro-Kremlin armed revolt in eastern Ukraine in 2014, has been critical of the way this campaign is being conducted. Alexei Alexandrov, an architect of the 2014 rebellion, told Reuters in March the invasion was a mistake.

Gabidullin took part in some of the bloodiest Syrian clashes in Deir al-Zor province, in Ghouta and near the ancient city of Palmyra. He was seriously injured in 2016 when a grenade exploded behind his back during a battle in the mountains near Latakia.

Gabidullin spent a week in a coma and three months in a hospital where he had surgeries to remove one of his kidneys and some intestines. Reuters has independently verified he was in the Wagner Group and was in combat in Syria.


Wagner Group fighters have been accused by rights groups and the Ukrainian government of committing war crimes in Syria and eastern Ukraine from 2014 onwards. Gabidullin said he had never been involved in such abuses.

DIFFERENT PROPOSITION

Moscow's involvement helped turn the tide of the Syrian war in favour of al-Assad, but Gabidullin said Russia's military restricted itself mainly to attacks from the air, while relying on Wagner mercenaries and other proxies to do the lion's share of the fighting on the ground.

The Russian military's task was easier too. Its opponents -- Islamic State and other militias -- had no anti-aircraft systems or artillery.

Fighting Ukraine, he said, was a different proposition.

"I've seen enough of them in Syria... (The Russian military) didn't take part in combat directly," he said in an interview in Paris to promote his book, which will be published by French publishing house Michel Lafon this month.


"The military forces .... when it was needed to learn how to fight, did not learn how to fight for real," he said.

Wagner Group is an informal entity, with -- on paper at least -- no offices or staff. The U.S. Treasury Department and the European Union have said the Wagner Group is linked to Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. Prigozhin has denied any such links.

Concord Management and Consulting, Prigozhin’s main business, did not respond to a request for comment.


President Vladimir Putin has said private military contractors have the right to work and pursue their interests anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law. Putin has said the Wagner Group neither represented the Russian state nor was paid by it.

Gabidullin said although he had known the Russian invasion of Ukraine was coming, he did not expect it to be on such a scale.

"I could not even think that Russia will wage a war on Ukraine. How could that be? It's impossible," he said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/russian-troops-ill-prepared-ukraine-war-says-ex-kremlin-mercenary-2022-05-10/

Mynd44 Lalasticlala Seun

Majority of Russian soldiers are conscripts

Putin will be humiliated.
Economically, this prolonged war will soon drain him and his country by extension.

That thief there looks more Nigerian that Russian

I heard he is a nazist, I wasn't the one that said so, it was a UK citizen, that the Wagnar group are nazists, no wonder he is supporting nazists

This ukraine-russia i have being following dis Hrn media news is propaganda and only Russia side news is genuine d day I notice dat putin fan boys don't have sense is dat western media dey claim is propaganda,then let d western media just headline dat Russia is making some progress in some part of d war they will believe it fast and be happy let reverse b d case dat ukraine is making good lead in d war they will claim it propaganda is dat not dumb especially nairaland and again they claim all British media is all about propaganda then d British media made a post about hunter Biden and a news about accused made by Russia dat USA have biolab in Ukraine omoh I was shock all putin fans boys quickly belive d news here all nairaland and they have already said all news reports by British media is propaganda and dat was still accusation. D day I give up on putin fan boys is d on Aljazeara post,when aljazeara post about Russia making good lead in d war they will b happy in d comment section and most people know dat Aljazeara will b reporting more Russia than Ukraine cause of d west then Aljazeara made a post about Ukraine making a good lead in some part of d war then in d comment section see most of dem trashing Aljazeara that Aljazeara has join western media that Aljazeara must not be reporting any Ukraine successful news na on dat day I know sey putin fan boys no get sense.come 2 putin fan boys on nairaland 2 I dey read comment they will b saying Ukraine is winning on social media dat in reality Russia is winning i wan ask question let's assume Ukraine is not making good lead in d war but saying Russia is winning in reality hw u take know u go 2 Ukraine go confam abi no b d same social media u take know sey Russia is winning no b stupidity b dat.lets all assume d west is lying saying Russia is saying d truth then u are mad firstly b4 d invasion d west u proclaim dat they are lying said dat Russia wil invade ukraine here on nairaland all putin fan boys saying d west is pushing 4 war dat Russia is not invading ukraine dat they are propagandist,there warrior putin denied d fact dat is not invading ukraine then what happen now,who is now lying between d 2 now b4 d invasion,Back 2 d media reporting dis war BBC,CNN,and other western media will all know dat they will b reporting more ukraine than Russia, then 2 d other side Rt news ,Chinese media and India news outlets will b reporting more Russia dan ukraine due 2 there take on Russia.Then back 2 nairaland u will b arguing with someone dat is brainwashed with western media news then proclaim your argument with fact u will b bringing Russia side news or Chinese,India news shey no b everybody know sey there news will counter each other and again if they are not using any Russia media outlets they will bring link of any western media 2 counter no b stupidity b dat western media u claim dat is propaganda.My take here is dat make putin fan boys no dey shout propaganda again bcus Russia 2 is a propaganda country dat thing baffle me dat all news must suit yr narrative dat Russia must win dis war I notice again must people supporting Russia is bcus dey dislike d west we all know d west are bad but assuming Russia is good I cant agree with u,if any Russia media made a news about I can't believe it,I will tamed it propaganda cause u assume d western media are propaganda news 2.i swear putin fan boys here on nairaland dey annoy me any news about Russia they don't care whether na fake news or not they will b jubilating on comment section let reverse b d case dat dey report about ukraine they will b fast shouting na lie or propaganda. Western media or Russia media,Chinese media will know there take on dis war b4 any truth will prevail it will going 2 be when d war is coming 2 an end then we will know who actually won d war but 4 now make everybody dey support who dey wan support without someone stupid will b saying na propaganda u dey read wetin u dey read, Na Reuters media I still notice small that try 2 balance there news small.Make putin fan boys try 2 get sense abeg

Sweet lies

Ukraine is winning on the internet while Russia is winning on the ground.