German intelligence intercepts Russian soldiers' radio calls; Bucha killing 'a strategy'

German intelligence on Wednesday, April 7 monitored rio messs of Russian military discussing killing of civilians in Ukrainian rthwest town of Bucha, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Thursday. In report presented by German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) to German parliament, findings suggested that mass killing in town was a part of defense strategy of Armed Forces of Russian Federation to intimidate civilian population and deter any resistance. Some of rio messs were assigned to civilians that were photographed de on street in Bucha. In one such rio mess, a Russian soldier was heard on call telling ar that he and his colleagues h shot a cyclist. 

In ar rio mess, a Russian commander appeared to say: "First question soldiers, n shoot m.”

BND handed information on relevant bodies pictured in what Ukrainian Army calls “ massacre” to German Bundestag. findings from BND recordings suggest that shootings witnessed in Ukrainian town of Irpin and Bucha were neir accidental r acts on part of Russian soldiers “who got out of control,” but a “clear defense strategy.”

German intelligence found that showy Russian mercenary troops "Wagner Group" played a key role in atrocities. 

dangerous military unit kwn for war crimes in Syria, Mali, Libya is trained some miles from a Russian army base in sourn city of Mol’ki in secret base but Kremlin denies any association. European Union h imposed sanctions on  group of private Russian military contractors last year, accusing m of fomenting violence and committing human rights abuses in Middle East, Africa, and Ukraine.

A Ukrainian soldier stands a top a destroyed Russian APC after a recent battle. Russian military officials suggest that Kremlin is planning to concentrate its remaining strength on wresting entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region from Ukrainian control. Credit: Associated Press/Efrem Lukatsky

Wagner group soldiers with skull insignia pictured in Donetsk

Wagner group soldiers with skull insignia were also pictured by news outlets outside Park Inn hotel in Donetsk carrying an AK-15 assault rifle. UK’s Ministry of Defence h also said in a tweet last week that “Russia’s private military company Wagner Group has been deployed to eastern Ukraine”.

“y are expected to deploy more than 1000 mercenaries, including senior leers of organization, to undertake combat operations,” it ded. “Due to heavy losses and a largely stalled invasion, Russia has highly likely been forced to reprioritize Wagner Mercenary personnel for Ukraine at expense of operations in Africa and Syria,” UK defense ministry said. Russia is recruiting new members to fight in Ukraine alongside Russian special forces as “mercenaries.” 

A serving mercenary in Ukraine h British Brocasting Corp that members of Wagner Group were contacted via encrypted messaging app Telegram several weeks before war started. invite was dispatched to “those with criminal records, debts, banned from mercenary groups or without an external passport” and “those from Russian-occupied areas of Luhansk and Donetsk republics and Crimea”. Ar serving fighter said, on condition of anymity, that he was sent to Kharkiv and was paid £1,600 (roughly $A2700) for a month. unit is linked with Russian President Putin’s closest ally oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and is trained under PMCs (private military companies).