Panic As Ukrainian Weapon Hits Russia Headquarter

Ukrainian weapon has attacked a headquarter of Russia’s professional soildiers  in eastern Ukraine.

The extent of damage to the military base of the group which has been traced to war crimes is not yet clear.

Luhansk’s governor claims its secret location was revealed after a Russian journalist shared its address.

Last week, pro-Kremlin correspondent Sergei Sreda posted a photo on Telegram of the base with its apparent address.

The image was shared on the social media site but was  since deleted.

It showed five people in military uniform with a street sign in Popasna, Luhansk visible in the top left corner.

While the connection between the photo and the strike has not been fully confirmed, Governor Serhiy Hayday wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian forces “hit an enemy Headquarter whose whereabouts were established thanks to a Russian journalist”.

“This time, the successful strike destroyed the Wagner PMC HQ in Popasna yesterday,” he said. He added that “the number of dead is being clarified”.

The Wagner group was deployed to Crimea and Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014  when Kremlin-backed forces brought  Ukrainian troops from areas they later declared to be part of Russia.

Wagner units have also been sent to Syria, Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic.

Wagner is known as a PMC – private military company. But they are state-sponsored trained soldiers  who act in the Kremlin’s interests.  They have been accused of repeated war crimes and human rights abuses.

According to further reports, a pro-Kremlin Russian journalist identified as Sergei Sreda exposed the Wagner HQ in a Telegram post on 8 August. He posted photos of his visit to the HQ and a sign in one of them identified its address as Mironovskaya 12, Popasna.

The post was later removed, but copies are still circulating on social media.

Popasna is situated at south of Severodonetsk in Luhansk region which Russian forces now entirely control after  months of bitter fighting and huge destruction.

Another pro-Kremlin war reporter, called Kotenok, wrote on Telegram: “A strike was carried out on one of the Wagner PMC locations in Popasna. Sources in Donbas confirm that. Probably ‘Himars’. Ukrainian sources report the death of Prigozhin – we don’t confirm that.”

Ukrainian forces now have several of the US Himars (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) which fire rockets capable of hitting Russian targets far behind the front lines.