By Matthew Roscoe • Published: 21 Jun 2022 • 12:47
Captured Wagner Group pilot says 'Russian aircraft have big problems with navigation'. Image: Facebook Ukraine MoD
After a Soviet Igla anti-aircraft missile system shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft near Svetlodarsk on June 18, Ukrainian soldiers were able to capture a hired Wagner Group mercenary, who complained about Russian military equipment.
The man captured, Andriy Volodymyrovych Fedorchukov, admitted during interrogation that he was a mercenary of the private military Wagner Group and was hired to kill Ukrainians for a salary of 205,000 rubles a month.
During interrogation, Fedorchukov said that he was hired to bomb a base housing Ukrainian Armed Forces and would drop bombs on Ukrainian cities along the way.
However, Fedorchukov said that “Russian aircraft have big problems with navigation” and admitted to using a “Garmin navigator and a smartphone with the Pronebo program to have more accurate navigation than the on-board navigation system”.
The Wagner Group are struggling to make an impact in Ukraine for President Putin.
On Thursday, June 9, Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed a base housing Wagner Group mercenaries in the town of Kadiivka in Luhansk Oblast, which has been under occupation since 2014.
Prior to that, Ukraine’s army destroyed a large unit of the Wagner Group in the Donbas region on Tuesday, May 31 and as a result, Russian soldiers were reportedly too afraid to fight in Ukraine after word of the Wagner Group mercenaries’ demise spread.
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Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.
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