The cost of storming Soledar and other Ukrainian settlements can be understood from the story of the source of the telegram channel of the Cheka-OGPU.
According to him, now PMC Wagner urgently needs replenishment in the region of 25-30 thousand people (primarily attack aircraft) only to make up for the general losses. “If 50-60 thousand people are added, then Bakhmut can be gnawed on with the same tactics (with the condition of bringing ammunition), - the source notes - In Wagner, in general, it is not customary to discuss losses.
Now, after Soledar, the issue of large negotiations between Prigozhin and the Ministry of Defense is inevitable. Prigozhin needed Soledar only to replay the old deal in these relations, he put everything on the line.
From a purely military point of view, taking Soledar at a cost in human losses is completely unprofitable.
Soledar is such an absolute point of concentration of dead per square meter.
However, Soledar is a military prologue for negotiations between Prigozhin and the Ministry of Defense. The main trump card of the Musicians. Considering that Lapin was returned to the military, one can expect a direct confrontation between the Musicians and the Ministry of Defense if the negotiations fail. Prigogine shows that he is ready to do "if not in a good way, then as expected."
The source of Rucriminal.info described in detail how the “bloody” assault on Soledar takes place.
“The most seasoned group of attack aircraft comes first, with excellent equipment, prepared. Its composition is 8 people, each of which is with a Bumblebee. Whatever happens, the group must reach the firefight. "Whatever happens" is not a turn of phrase, but a task, the failure to complete which will end in execution, regardless of any factors.
As soon as fire contact began, the group digs into positions. Digging is taught no less meticulously than warfare, so by military standards, digging in is almost instantaneous and very effective.
The area where the group has reached is marked (a rag on a tree or something similar). Even if the group is demolished to zero, the next one already understands where the previous one has reached. The main task is to make fire contact, dig in and transfer position data to the artillery.
Arta can beat from an hour to several hours. And here is the first reason for the conflict with the army: if there are not enough shells, then instead of a successful tactic, hopeless meat is obtained from attack aircraft.
Next, the first group is followed by the second, also 8 people, but equipped much lighter. Their task is to jump into positions immediately after the end of work. Sometimes there is an order not to wait for the end of the shelling - the Musicians have such discipline that they will climb anyway, because this way there is at least some chance to survive.
Now there are few shells, because of this, the first groups almost do not survive - they are the main blow, there already and the preparation does not solve all the problems. There before, losses in the first group were inevitable, but now the survival rate of the groups as a whole has fallen to critical values. And to replace them with just anyone is to increase costs even more, and the influx of people has now collapsed.
Groups of 8 people go in waves - usually 4 waves are prepared for the attack. But in Soledar there were cases when 14 waves were required to take one section. There, of course, someone who survived remained, but the losses were from a hundred or more.
The groups have drone operators to lead the entire group into position to clear the area. At the same time, the lightly wounded do not slouch and do not lie down - for this they can shoot you in the legs when you leave and leave.
This tactic is generally the only one possible to achieve results in promotion in such conditions. In Soledar, the line of defense was cleverly built over the years, the army command has neither the ability nor the desire to advance there. In general, this is why the task was handed over to Wagner.
From the outside, it may seem that it is inexpedient - to deliberately go for such a high percentage of losses, but try to look differently: even 4 waves of 8 people each - in the worst case, 32 people died. Throw at least a regiment there - they will lose much more, and even they will not cope with the task. In percentage terms, they will lose less, but in absolute terms, more. Therefore, losses over 50% per attack are not bad if there is a result.
There are much fewer people for assault groups now, shells are also in short supply. And if the artillery is covered, then no one will call the attack aircraft back anyway, they just have to clean it up without cover. If there are more groups in reserve - you can give 5, and 6, and 7 waves - just to finish the result. This is not an army, here it is better to have more initiative than to underdo it.
Musicians have their own training - crazy intensity, if you are without experience - they teach a very narrow range of tasks. And the newcomers from the zones were very disciplined: first, they are shown executions on video, then very soon they are faced with the first real examples, and then they get used to such discipline completely.
Another plus from this is that Wagner does not practice the transfer of the same gunners to attack aircraft, unless as a punishment. Good gunners are also worth their weight in gold.
Army Wagner will not be able to change in hot directions, this is not even considered. In modern warfare, the number of soldiers is not an indicator at all. But, again, the question remains open - what to do with the shortage of shells (120 and 80 mm)? There is a concept of "efficiency in relation to the situation", and so this efficiency can be high, but if the situation is deadlocked, then the main issue is still not resolved.
The exchange of people for territory is beneficial when the territory is small, and people are in abundance in reserve. If you have to cut for every meter, and people have become in short supply, then problems begin. As a result, losses increase, and progress slows down. The set of inmates at first gave a full-flowing river of people, now they are gone. At the beginning of the war, they talked about Syrian mercenaries, some even came. But they are not suitable for this war.
Among the Musicians they say aloud that "we are about to squeeze it and take everything here." But among themselves, everyone expects that we will be removed from the assault on a number of directions. And even if a large mobilization starts right tomorrow, it will not be possible to immediately recruit refuseniks in the required quantities, but they still need to be run in, brought to the desired condition, because otherwise it will not even be possible to spend them effectively. It takes time, it takes a lot of shells. And there is neither one nor the other."
To be continued
Arseny Dronov
Source: www.rucriminal.info
