22 August 2017, 17:30
“Fontanka”: at least 10 “Wagner” fighters from Southern Russia perished in Syria
The Internet newspaper "Fontanka" has posted the names and passport data of natives of Southern Russia, who took part in warfare in Syria as members of the "Wagner" Private Military Company and perished there. The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refuted this data.
According to the newspaper, "Wagner" fighters have no relation to the official power structures of the Russian Federation and are training at the shooting range in the Krasnodar Territory.
"The first part of the list has 25 names, as indicated in the reference note, compiled, apparently, by the "Wagner" headquarters. The document indicates that this is the list of losses in Syria in 2016," says the article.
This part of the list contains the name of a native of the Astrakhan Region, whose death in Syria was confirmed by a photo from social networks taken at the background of Palmira, as well as of a resident of Krasnodar, whose relatives had confirmed his death. The list also contains the names of a resident of Novorossiysk, whose death was confirmed by comments of his relatives in social networks, a Kuban (Krasnodar) Cossack, whose death was also confirmed by records in social networks, and a native of Rostov-on-Don. According to the article, the deaths of residents of Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don and Novorossiysk have also to do with Syria.
In total, the first part of the list contains the names of eight natives of Southern Russia.
The second part of the list mentions "eight persons who perished on October 19, 2015," among them two natives of the Stavropol Territory and the Volgograd Region.
The third part of the list contains "so far fragmentary information about the group's losses in 2017," including the names of natives of the Astrakhan Region and Stavropol Territory.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.