Rebel detachments have traveled hundreds of kilometers almost unhindered and are approaching Moscow. Why is Shoigu’s army not resisting?
Military experts interviewed by the “MO” explain.
Prigozhin said that 25,000 people were going to deal with Shoigu and Gerasimov. And his strategic reserve is “the whole army and the whole country.” In January, the number of Wagner PMCs fighting in Bakhmut was estimated at 50 thousand people.
Since then, the Wagnerites have had heavy losses, and many prisoners have completed their contracts, military analysts say.
“The figure of 25 thousand people may be real, but so far we do not see such a number of fighters near Prigozhin in Rostov-on-Don,” says military analyst Yan Matveev. – As for weapons – the Wagnerites have tanks, artillery, infantry fighting vehicles and armored vehicles, air defense systems. Not in such numbers to fight against the regular army for a long time. But Prigozhin seems to be hoping that the army units will go over to his side, or at least not start fighting against Wagner,” says Matveev.
Reserve Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Roman Svitan drew the attention of the Defense Ministry to the fact that the army is not yet seriously attacking the Wagnerites. “Aircraft can destroy a convoy on the highway in a few minutes . From Rostov to Voronezh – 600 kilometers. So there was no such order. So far, it all looks like some kind of performance ” “It is not known for certain how many military men Prigozhin has and where they are located, the Russian army also has bayonets,” states military expert David Sharp. “For a successful coup, they must reach Moscow. It is enough to stop a column of light vehicles with the help of aviation and special forces. The Ministry of Defense has more forces both in numbers and in technology. Everything rests on the readiness of the authorities to decisively stop this, ”the expert concluded.
A MO source in the Wagner PMC claims that the company employs up to 100,000 people in total. “The 25,000 that Prigozhin is talking about are directly those who are now fighting in Ukraine. The rest are outside the special operation – in Syria, Africa, training camps in the Russian rear.”
