A private military company called "Wagner":

Wagner, a paramilitary firm hired by Russia to fight in conflicts from Mali to Syria, has reportedly been recruiting Russian prisoners to fight in Ukraine.

Footage posted on Russian Telegram channels on Monday showed a man addressing a crowd of prisoners in Russia. Some say he's Prigozhin.

Some criminals recruited by Wagner Group from Russian prisons have been captured in Ukraine, sources tell Middle East Eye.

Wagner, a shadowy group of firms and contractors, is linked to Vladimir Putin through Yevgeny Prigozhin. Alleged abuses in Syria, Libya, and CAR.

An anonymous foreign volunteer fighting for Ukraine stated that many Wagner mercenaries were recently captured, including 30 former Russian inmates. The source said 400 Russians were captured in recent weeks, but because Ukrainian officials interrogated them, information was limited.

“Most of the former Russian prisoners fighting in Ukraine have been convicted of military crimes or were involved in military crimes,” the source said.

The source said his unit has encountered Russian troops with no military experience while participating in the Ukrainian counteroffensive around Kherson and Kharkiv.

A second source said that Wagner gave its worst equipment to its Ukrainian prisoners.

"They use these people as bait, said a second source. We know 500 to 600 Russian prisoners were brought this way in recent months." The source added that the Russian prisoners claiming to be freed are mostly left-behind troops with no combat experience.

Prigozhin denies ties to the private army. Yet he began visiting prison colonies in March, as the Russian invasion faltered and its military losses mounted.

Olga Romanova, director of the Russia Behind Bars foundation, said Wagner's prisoner-conscription process began in February and March. Siloviki are Putin's security men, many of whom served in the KGB and hold conservative views.

Romanova and another source say 20% of Wagner convicts were recruited from prison colonies.

Romanova says Prigozhin could recruit 50,000 to 60,000 criminals. Verstka and Russia Behind Bars say Wagner representatives visited 21 prisons in 13 regions by mid-August. Recruiters offered inmates $3,341 and amnesty for six months at the front. Verstka says 20% of convicts accepted Wagner's offer in most penal colonies.

In Russia's 650 penal colonies, 468,000 Siloviki, Chechens, and other convicts are incarcerated as of May 2022.

Russian prisoners are fighting in Ukraine

0 Comments