On August 8, Russian “war correspondent” Serge Sreda posted pictures on Telegram of what was supposed to be the headquarters of the Wagner Group, in the town of Popasna in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
A week later, it was reported from both the Ukrainian and Russian sides that the base had been attacked.
– Ukrainian forces again succeeded in bombing the enemy’s headquarters, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Heyday said in statement.
He must have revealed the address
Sergej Sreda never wrote where Wagner’s alleged headquarters in Popasna was, or when the visit took place, but the Telegram post contains several images with possible clues.
– Our soldiers moved quickly after one of the Kremlin soldiers leaked the location of the Wagner headquarters. They had to quickly check the information, destroying the headquarters. The special operation succeeded, writes Ukrainian politician Oleksiy Honcharenko Facebook.
Srida then deleted the post, but he is Reposted From several channels, and therefore still available.
Base visit: This is one of the photos that Russian “war correspondent” Serge Sreda posted on Telegram last week. Photo: Serge Srida
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When he visited the base, it was rumored that Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chef”, had stayed there. This has not been confirmed or denied by any party.
The United States and the European Union, among others, accuse the oligarchy of financing the private military group. He himself denies any connection.
Related to the attack: This photo is allegedly from the attack and shows Yevgeny Prigozhin – “Putin’s chef” – at the scene. It was not confirmed whether he was at the base or whether the photo was after the attack. Photo: Wagner Group
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The Telegram group “Back of the Medallion”, associated with the Wagner group, was one of the first to mentioned About the incident and published pictures of what will be the base after the attack. The photos were later republished by other Russian propaganda channels.
According to the independent Russian newspaper, medusawho compared the photos before and after the attack, they must be from the same address.
– Judging by the damage to the building, the attack came from the Ukrainian-controlled territory near Seversk, the newspaper wrote.
Expert: Maybe he will resist
According to the governor of Luhansk, work is underway to clarify any number of dead in the attack. Russian propaganda channels report that there have been several injuries and one death, “apparently”.
Ruslan Leviev, who heads the conflict intelligence team of an investigative group, believes that much remains unclear about the attack and the deleted Telegram post.
in Twitter theme He details how even “the dumbest pro-Russian military correspondent” knows the dangers of revealing coordinates by photographing locations.
– And here they are standing right near the headquarters?
Leviev’s theory is that the Russians should have planned to publish the photos as a provocation, in order to locate the equipment of the Ukrainian forces, and retaliate.
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