Ukraine hits hotel housing Vladimir Putin's ‘private army’, says exiled governor

Russia-Ukraine War: Wagner Group- also known as Vladimir Putin's “private army”- are state-sponsored mercenaries who act in the Kremlin's interests.

Ukrainian forces have struck a headquarters of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, the exiled governor of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine said. Serhiy Haidai said a hotel where the Wagner group met in Kadiivka, Luhansk, had been hit with major losses.

Russia-Ukraine War: Wagner Group is also known as Vladimir Putin's “private army”.

This comes as fighting raged in southern Ukraine over the weekend, with Russia targeting Odesa and Ukraine bombarding a target in the occupied city of Melitopol. Wagner Group- also known as Vladimir Putin's “private army”- are state-sponsored mercenaries who act in the Kremlin's interests, according to Western experts.

The private military company was set up by Yevgeny Prigozhin who was a former restaurateur and a close associate of Russian president Vladimir Putin. The group has been repeatedly accused of war crimes and human rights abuses and its units have previously been deployed in Crimea, Syria, Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic.

Serhiy Haidai said Russia had suffered "significant losses" in the stroke and he expected "at least 50%" of the surviving forces to die due to a lack of medical treatment.

This week, Ukraine shot down 10 drones, with another five hitting energy facilities in the port city of Odesa - leaving around 1.5 million people without power.

"The situation in the Odesa region is very difficult," Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding, "Unfortunately the hits were critical, so it takes more than just time to restore electricity. It doesn't take hours, but a few days."