Russia uses Wagner military contractors in Ukraine, says UK MoD

Russia uses Wagner military contractors in Ukraine, says UK MoD
# 24 June 2022 09:52 (UTC +04:00)

"Ukrainian forces have announced that the pilot of a Russian Su-25 FROGFOOT ground attack aircraft shot down on 17 June was captured shortly afterwards," the UK Ministry of Defense wrote on Twitter, APA reports.

"The pilot has confessed to being a former Russian air force Major, who had taken employment as a Wagner military contractor and had flown several missions during the conflict.

The use of retired personnel, now working as Wagner contractors, to conduct close air support missions indicates that the Russian air force likely is struggling to support the invasion of Ukraine with sufficient aircrew.

This is likely due to a combination of Russia’s insufficient numbers of suitably trained personnel and its combat losses.

Whilst conducting his missions, the Russian pilot reportedly used commercial GPS devices rather than Russian military navigation equipment.

This likely indicates that Wagner aircraft are older models of the Su-25 and that the Russian air force is not providing Wagner with up-to-date avionics equipment," noted Ministry

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