Slave Wars

What remains of Bakhmut. Photo credit 93rd Mechanized Brigade. Feb 2023.

By Cale Gressman

 *This isn’t so much history as a current events type article, but I felt like writing it so… here you go. 

Recently I read a Wall Street Journal article about the ongoing (and brutal) Battle of Bakhmut occurring at this very moment in Eastern Ukraine. The battle has been going on between Russian and Ukrainian forces for 7 months and seems to be nearing its conclusion one way or another. At the moment, Russian troops seem to have most of the city surrounded with only one road leading into the city still in Ukrainian hands. 

Now I will not be posting the link to the WSJ article, as it will be behind a paywall. So I guess trust me? Anyways the article in question discusses the recent advances of the Russians at Bakhmut. Or rather the group of Russians responsible for the advances: Wagner. The Wagner mercenary group, headed by an old Putin ally (or former ally if sources are to be believed) Yevgeny Prigozhin, was once upon a time an elite paramilitary group that worked closely with the Kremlin to operate in theaters throughout the world (Syria, Mali, and CAR, to name a few). These were regions where the Russians wanted to intervene, but not at an official level. 

Until the Ukraine war, the group had recruited almost exclusively from the Russian military, specifically Russian special forces. That is to say, they wanted quality. However, the demands of the war have meant that they have had to expand their recruiting efforts. Particularly to the vast Russian prison system, most notably in their penal colonies. These Russian prisoners were given the deal that if they served (and presumably survived) 6 months in Ukraine, they would receive amnesty for their crimes. At his point the group fields nearly 50,000 men in Ukraine, so not an insignificant number. 

Now, it should be noted that I take most information coming out of Ukraine and particularly from the Russian, Ukrainian, American, and British governments with more than a pinch of salt. On the one hand, there is the problem of the fog of war; no one really knows what’s going on until it happens. On the other hand, the governments mentioned above are likely lying to us wholly or in part. This is understandable. The truth is a powerful weapon. And in war, governments have precious little reason to tell the truth, lest they appear weak. A lot of this war thus far has been one of overstatement, understatement, and no statement at all.

With this caveat in place, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Wagner group was using human wave tactics (a Russian classic) in order to gain ground and wear down Ukrainian troops. These men, inevitably prisoners, are sent on what are effectively suicide missions in order to gain what amounts to a few yards. While they have, reportedly, taken massive casualties, this tactic seems to be working. According to the Ukrainians on the ground, the Russian forces don’t give a damn about the lives they are throwing away, while the Ukrainians are forced to conserve every man they can. In a war of attrition, the Russians win. 

So what is the point of me bringing this up? Well, the use of what effectively amounts to slave soldiers by the Russian Wagner group perhaps portends dark tidings for the future. Slave soldiers have long been used in war. Today, one form of slave soldier is the countless child soldiers used throughout the conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. And it has now spread to the battlefield of Eastern Europe. I can rather easily foresee a future where many nations make use of prison populations and other undesirables in order to bolster their numbers. There are even reports that the Russians were forcing native Ukrainians to fight their kinsmen. There are even allegations that the foreign legion fighting on behalf of the Ukrainians has been used as cannon fodder in some cases. 

While the war has clearly demonstrated the necessity and viability of high-tech equipment such as drones and HIMARs, it has also shown that the rudiments of warfare have not changed. While tanks, planes, and trains are essential to any modern war, so is having the manpower to prosecute it. 

Anyways it’s just a theory. All I know is that the aftermath of this war is going to be a matter of intense debate no matter the outcome. So much of the war has dumped the post-modern, end-of-history thinking of the West on its head. None of it portends a peaceful future unfortunately.