JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Wagner Troops Exhaust Ukrainian Forces in Bakhmut; Deadly fight against the penal battalions threatens Kyiv’s ability to mount spring offensive” – WSJ
“… Wagner … now relies mostly on convicts recruited in Russian prisons …. With their policy of executing on the spot troopers who attempt to retreat or surrender, and a disregard for losses … shocking for modern warfare, Wagner’s disposable penal battalions have emerged as a unique threat to Ukrainian defenders … [while] the regular Russian military remains largely stalled. No military in a democratic society can keep sending wave after wave of soldiers to near-certain death to gain another few hundred yards. Even Russia’s regular armed forces, known for their high tolerance of casualties, shy away from dispatching troops on clearly suicidal missions. Yet it is precisely such an approach that has allowed Wagner to come to the verge of capturing Bakhmut, at a cost that Ukrainian and Western officials estimate at tens of thousands of Russian casualties. … [A] 48-year-old Wagner trooper captured by Ukraine said he initially signed up in October, but wasn’t picked [then] … because he has hepatitis C. … [O]n Dec. 30, Wagner changed its stance amid its manpower shortage. The man was shipped to train[] … in … Luhansk …. All of the men in the [training] camp … had hepatitis C … HIV … or both. [A] 29-year-old Wagner trooper … said he had contracted HIV in prison. …”