Such a message is spread by Russian propaganda to a foreign audience, in particular, covering the events in Soledar. Like, thanks to the “bold and selfless” actions of the “volunteers” of the battle groups of the private military company (PVK) “Wagner”, an assault was made on the city blocks of Soledar “occupied” by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the spread of the message. In fact, the PVK “Wagner” is an illegal armed formation that is fighting in Ukraine. Russia did not report the participation of the Wagner group officially. However, their operations are closely linked to the regular Russian army and its foreign policy. The equipment comes from Russian state arsenals and the group is completely dependent on supplies through the logistics of the Russian army.

As analysts write, Wagner is as “private” as the Kremlin needs to avoid command responsibility for the group's atrocities or its covert involvement in conflicts around the world. The group can be considered as another auxiliary armed formation under the Kremlin umbrella.

Their rights, including being in captivity, depend on the official status of the military who are at war. Russian propaganda uses the tactics of substitution of concepts, calling Ukrainian volunteers “mercenaries”. Real mercenaries fighting in the ranks of the Russian army are presented as volunteers.

Earlier, Russian propaganda claimed that a group of Islamists from Syria would fight on the side of Ukraine or spoke about Polish mercenaries who allegedly fought and died in Ukraine.