The battle for control of Bakhmut in Ukraine may have cost Wagner PMC up to 22,000 soldiers dead. This information was reported on July 19 by a channel associated with the organization, as well as by the chief of staff, who goes by the call sign Marx.
The telegram channel "Unloading Wagner" associated with the PMC, published a recording by Marx, the company’s chief of staff and a member of the Council of Commanders. He commented on the claims by State Duma member Vladimir Shamanov that over 30,000 Wagner fighters have signed contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry.
The PMC commander denies these figures. He claims that a total of 78,000 Wagner fighters were involved in the conflict in Ukraine. 22,000 of them may have died during the Bakhmut battle. 25,000 are still alive, including the wounded, with 10,000 of them currently in Belarus and another 15,000 on vacation.
The Important Stories publication reported that the PMC has decided to release all former prisoners who had served with Wagner. According to one of the company's commanders, there were a total of 49,000 convicts. The publication also mentions that many of them are staying in hotels in Anapa waiting for a pardon.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not officially disclosed the number of casualties in the battle of Bakhmut. The last time they provided information about fatalities was in September 2022, when Sergei Shoigu stated that 5,937 servicemen had lost their lives.
According to calculations by BBC Russian Service and Mediazona, 26,000 Russian servicemen have been killed in Ukraine. The Defense Ministry has not commented on this data either.
