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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Cossack Fighter Laments Russian 'Utilization' Of Mercenaries In Syria |
| 2018-03-16 |
| Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty interview with Russian Cossack ataman (head man) and sometime mercenary Yevgeny Shabayev. ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Russia is abuzz with media reports that dozens -- perhaps hundreds, by some accounts -- of Russian mercenaries were killed or wounded in the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on February 7-8 in fighting with the U.S. military and its Syrian-rebel allies. The Russian government has been reluctant to talk about the incident, saying on February 15 that "about five" Russians "may have been killed" and, on February 20, that "several dozen" Russian and other former Soviet citizens were injured. The United States has estimated that about 100 fighters were killed in the incident, without specifying their nationalities. Many of the wounded mercenaries from the Vagner commercial security firm have been evacuated to Russia and are being treated in military hospitals. RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Yelizaveta Mayetnaya visited one such hospital outside St. Petersburg, where she spoke with Yevgeny Shabayev, the ataman of the Khovrino Cossack organization and a sometime mercenary. Shabayev had just finished visiting eight of the wounded mercenaries. He agreed to talk with RFE/RL about the fighting in Syria and about how and why Russians end up going there. His assertions -- including about burials and casualties, remuneration and compensation, deployments, or purported meetings in the Kremlin -- have not been corroborated by RFE/RL. RFE/RL: You've just finished visiting the wounded soldiers. What did they tell you about the night they were injured? |
| Posted by:Throter Spock4390 |
| #5 ...yeah, but the retirement package is a little light. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-03-16 22:04 |
| #4 What's interesting about the article is that Ukrainians and Russians on opposite sides of the barricades in Ukraine are said to be fighting shoulder to shoulder as mercenaries in Syria. The pay (~$1800 a month) is pretty good when you consider that the typical blue collar Russian salary is said to be around $300. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2018-03-16 20:19 |
| #3 When you take the King's shilling, you're signing up for a life of adventure. Maybe too much adventure. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2018-03-16 20:12 |
| #2 Soldiers been saying "Their gold and our blood" since the beginnings of history. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2018-03-16 04:46 |
| #1 Shabayev: The main reason why they go there is that they have no life here. No work and no social or economic status, neither as former military with specific experience nor as simple citizens. They went as hired soldiers to protect [oligarch] Yevgeny Prigozhin's pipeline, since they were guarding the oil fields around Palmyra. Some here might be able to relate. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-03-16 02:19 |