According to US intelligence, Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner PMC sent 50,000 fighters to the front in Ukraine, 40,000 of which were convicts from Russian prisons.. Prigozhin spends more than $100 million a month on the war. This was stated by the official representative of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, reports "

U.S. intelligence has confirmed, Kirby said, that the Wagner PMC is playing a strike role in the attack on Bakhmut.. At the same time, he noted that Prigozhin’s militants were equipped and were suffering heavy losses..

“It looks like Mr. Prigogine is ready to just throw his soldiers into a meat grinder, wholesale,” Kirby said..

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In recent weeks alone, about 1,000 PMC fighters have died in battles, 90% of them were hastily trained and poorly equipped. But Prigozhin himself is not worried about people, but only about competition with the Russian Ministry of Defense and the strengthening of his influence.

“He [Prigozhin] is much more interested in trading influence in the Kremlin than in the people he recruits for the war.. For him, the only thing that matters is how good he looks in the eyes of Putin and how well he is treated in the Kremlin,” Kirby said.. “Therefore, it is quite clear to us that the Wagner PMC is becoming a center of power, competing with the Russian military and other Russian ministries.”.

American intelligence confirmed the information of their British counterparts that the Wagner PMC received a shipment of weapons from North Korea. In particular, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and rockets were delivered in November..

The U.S.

believes weapons purchased from North Korea will not change the dynamics of the battlefield in Ukraine, but the fact that North Korea plans to supply Wagner with even more military equipment is worrisome. Arms shipments from North Korea are in direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and the US plans to raise this issue in the UN Security Council.

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Recall, the Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled new restrictions against Wagner PMCs.. Also, according to Kirby, Washington in the coming weeks will introduce new sanctions against those who support Prigozhin in countries around the world..