Russian journalists find previously unknown Wagner Group burial ground near Russia’s Irkutsk

Two burial sites for Wagner Group mercenaries have been discovered near Irkutsk, east Russia, Siberian news website Lyudi Baikala reports.

Both are located at a cemetery located 11 km away from Irkutsk. The first is called an Alley of Heroes and consists of 13 graves near the central entrance. At least ten of them resided in the Irkutsk region. Journalists could not verify where the other three originated from.

The second one — previously unknown — has 53 Wagner Group mercenary graves and is located in a far removed corner of the cemetery. At least five of them are on the Lyudi Baikala list of deceased Russian fighters in Ukraine as their obituaries were published on social media platforms or in local newspapers. The deaths of others were not officially reported.

The journalists discovered that at least 43 of them were convicts: 17 Wagner Group fighters were convicted for murders, the rest for theft or drug-related offenses.

Moreover, the cemetery has graves of the draftees from regiment 1439 who earlier recorded an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to complain that they are being taken “for slaughter”.

In a few instances, relatives of the deceased personnel only learnt about their deaths from the media outlet. A sister of a killed Wagner Group fighter was told that this cemetery does not exist.