Ukrainian forces struck one of Russian mercenary group Wagner’s bases in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, regional authorities said Monday.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine again successfully struck the enemy’s headquarters…this time in Popasna, where a base of the Wagner PMC was destroyed yesterday. The number of those killed is being clarified,” Luhansk regional head Serhiy Haidai said.
Photos showing a group of soldiers carrying wounded servicemen out of a destroyed residential building first appeared on the Reverse Side of the Metal Telegram channel, which is rumored to be linked to the private military contractor, on Sunday.
“We are taking the boys out of Popasnaya [headquarters]. The joy of the khokhly is greatly exaggerated,” read the Telegram post’s caption, using a derogatory Russian-language term for Ukrainians.
At least one person was killed and several others were wounded in the strike, according to the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Operation Z.
The attack comes less than a week after pro-Kremlin war correspondent Sergei Sreda disclosed the location of the Wagner base in Popasna in a Telegram post.
Though Sreda said he published his post with the mercenary group’s permission, Kyiv likely used it to locate the headquarters in a five-story residential building and orchestrate the strike using a U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launcher, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news outlet reported.
The Wagner Group is believed to be owned by Kremlin-linked catering magnate Yevgeny Prigozhin. Its mercenaries are reported to have participated in military conflicts around the world, including Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine this year.
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