By AARON REICH -
A service member of pro-Russian troops stands inside a residential building in Volnovakha
© (photo credit: REUTERS)
Russia is recruiting prisoners who volunteer to fight in its ongoing war in Ukraine through the Wagner mercenary company, and those who don't want prisoners to fight should send their children to fight instead, Russian oligarch and Wagner co-owner Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a statement Thursday.
The statement, uploaded to the Russian social media platform VKontakte by Prigozhin's company Concord, was made in response to a question from a journalist from the Russian news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda, which is not to be confused with the similarly named Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
The journalist inquired about reports that prisoners are being recruited to fight.
"Of course, if I were a prisoner, I would dream of joining... in order to not only redeem my debt to the Motherland, but also to repay it with interest," said Pirogzhin, a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Regarding those who don't want prisoners to be recruited to fight in Ukraine, Pirogzhin said: "Send your children to the front. Either private military contractors and prisoners, or [send] your children - decide for yourself."
"Send your children to the front. Either private military contractors and prisoners, or [send] your children - decide for yourself." Russian oligarch, Putin confidant and Wagner co-owner Yevgeny Prigozhin
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Russia recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine
There have already been numerous allegations by Ukraine and other international intelligence reports that Russia is working to recruit prisoners through mercenary groups like Wagner to shore up its heavy losses in the ongoing war , which Russia refers to as a "special military operation."
According to Ukrainian intelligence reports, after signing and fulfilling the contracts with the private military company convicts are promised full amnesty after six months of service. They further claimed that the crime committed by convicts is irrelevant, even if it is murder or other serious crimes.
Wagner has reportedly been taking part in this, as they have also suffered significant losses during the war. Also, despite Prigozhin's claims, UK intelligence claims that Russia's military has lowered its standards for recruits and the training is rushed.
According to reports by the Latvia-based Russian independent investigative news outlet The Insider, Prigozhin personally goes to prisons to recruit prisoners, with Putin having supposedly personally authorized it.
Russia is recruiting prisoners who volunteer to fight in its ongoing war in Ukraine through the Wagner mercenary company, and those who don't want prisoners to fight should send their children to fight instead, Russian oligarch and Wagner co-owner Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a statement Thursday.
The statement, uploaded to the Russian social media platform VKontakte by Prigozhin's company Concord, was made in response to a question from a journalist from the Russian news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda, which is not to be confused with the similarly named Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
The journalist inquired about reports that prisoners are being recruited to fight.
"Of course, if I were a prisoner, I would dream of joining... in order to not only redeem my debt to the Motherland, but also to repay it with interest," said Pirogzhin, a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Regarding those who don't want prisoners to be recruited to fight in Ukraine, Pirogzhin said: "Send your children to the front. Either private military contractors and prisoners, or [send] your children - decide for yourself."
"Send your children to the front. Either private military contractors and prisoners, or [send] your children - decide for yourself." Russian oligarch, Putin confidant and Wagner co-owner Yevgeny Prigozhin
Russia recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine
There have already been numerous allegations by Ukraine and other international intelligence reports that Russia is working to recruit prisoners through mercenary groups like Wagner to shore up its heavy losses in the ongoing war , which Russia refers to as a "special military operation."
According to Ukrainian intelligence reports, after signing and fulfilling the contracts with the private military company convicts are promised full amnesty after six months of service. They further claimed that the crime committed by convicts is irrelevant, even if it is murder or other serious crimes.
Wagner has reportedly been taking part in this, as they have also suffered significant losses during the war. Also, despite Prigozhin's claims, UK intelligence claims that Russia's military has lowered its standards for recruits and the training is rushed.
According to reports by the Latvia-based Russian independent investigative news outlet The Insider, Prigozhin personally goes to prisons to recruit prisoners, with Putin having supposedly personally authorized it.
"The prisoners want to leave... get out, go anywhere. Because any place on Earth is better than a Russian prison." Olga Romanova
Why are Russian prisoners going to fight in Ukraine?
The Insider also claims that there is a preference for recruiting prisoners convicted of murder. According to the Russian human rights NGO Russia Behind Bars, so far, up to 10,000 prisoners have already been recruited, including murderers, rapists and one "cannibal maniac."
According to Russia Behind Bars head Olga Romanova in an interview with Lithuania-based Russian dissident news YouTube channel Popular Politics, Prigozhin has also said Wagner is just looking for cannon fodder who charge forward, and any convict that tries to desert will be shot.
This was further detailed in a video showing someone believed to be Pirogzhin telling prisoners about the terms of their recruitment.
"No one retreats, no one surrenders," the person resembling Pirogzhin says, according to The Insider, adding that execution follows.
The video in question was also mentioned by the Pravda journalist to Pirogzhin, who referred to the person as "someone similar to Pirogzhin."
However, Romanova stressed that it seems most prisoners aren't being forced to join the war but are instead willingly volunteering, and not even for the money.
"The prisoners want to leave... get out, go anywhere," she explained to Popular Politics. "Because any place on Earth is better than a Russian prison."
Roman Meitav contributed to this report.
Russian inmates ‘told they’ll be freed if they survive six-months on Ukraine frontline’
Miriam Burrell - Yesterday -
The founder of Russia’s pro-Kremlin Wagner mercenary group has attempted to recruit prisoners to fight Putin’s war in Ukraine, in leaked video footage.
Wagner-chief-Russia.PNG© Leaked video shared on Twitter
Yevgeniy Prigozhin can be seen addressing a large group of detainees in footage shared on Twitter.
English subtitles appear to show Mr Prigozhin telling the inmates, who stood in a circle around him, that he represents a private military company.
Mr Prigozhin told prisoners their sentences would be thrown out in exchange for service with his group for six months.
“While you’re with us for a half a year, you’re always in the combat zone,” he told the group.
“No one falls back. No one retreats. No one surrenders into capture,” the subtitles said.
“During training you’ll be told about two grenades you must have with you when surrending,” he said.
The minimum age the Wagner group is recruiting is 22 years old, he said, and the maximum age is 50, depending on prisoners’ physicality.
Mr Prigozhin also warned the prisoners against drugs, alcohol and sex with “local women, flora, fauna, men....anyone” on the frontlines.
Anyone interested would have to undergo a phsyical test and possibly a lie detector test, he warned.
Speaking in what appeared to be a prison exercise yard, the mercenary boss also alluded to the difficulties Russia has faced in invasion, saying “this is a hard war, not even close to the likes of Chechnya and the others”.
It is unclear who filmed the video, when it occurred or how it was released.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in July that Russia had likely tasked mercenaries to hold sections of the frontline in Ukraine due to a “major shortage” of combat infantry.
Greater reliance on paid fighters from the Russian private military company Wagner Group for frontline duties rather than their usual work in special operations was seen as a further sign that Russia’s military is under stress six months into the war.
“This is a significant change from the previous employment of the group since 2015, when it typically undertook missions distinct from overt, large-scale regular Russian military activity,” the Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on July 30.
“Wagner’s role has probably changed because the Russian MoD has a major shortage of combat infantry however Wagner forces are highly unlikely to be sufficient to make a significant difference in the trajectory of the war.”
Meanwhile in August it was reported that Ukrainian missiles are reported to have hit a base belonging to pro-Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in the east of the country.
One Ukrainian politician said long-range HIMARS rockets were used in the attack on the city of Popasna.
Miriam Burrell - Yesterday -
The founder of Russia’s pro-Kremlin Wagner mercenary group has attempted to recruit prisoners to fight Putin’s war in Ukraine, in leaked video footage.
Wagner-chief-Russia.PNG© Leaked video shared on Twitter
Yevgeniy Prigozhin can be seen addressing a large group of detainees in footage shared on Twitter.
English subtitles appear to show Mr Prigozhin telling the inmates, who stood in a circle around him, that he represents a private military company.
Mr Prigozhin told prisoners their sentences would be thrown out in exchange for service with his group for six months.
“While you’re with us for a half a year, you’re always in the combat zone,” he told the group.
“No one falls back. No one retreats. No one surrenders into capture,” the subtitles said.
“During training you’ll be told about two grenades you must have with you when surrending,” he said.
The minimum age the Wagner group is recruiting is 22 years old, he said, and the maximum age is 50, depending on prisoners’ physicality.
Mr Prigozhin also warned the prisoners against drugs, alcohol and sex with “local women, flora, fauna, men....anyone” on the frontlines.
Anyone interested would have to undergo a phsyical test and possibly a lie detector test, he warned.
Speaking in what appeared to be a prison exercise yard, the mercenary boss also alluded to the difficulties Russia has faced in invasion, saying “this is a hard war, not even close to the likes of Chechnya and the others”.
It is unclear who filmed the video, when it occurred or how it was released.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in July that Russia had likely tasked mercenaries to hold sections of the frontline in Ukraine due to a “major shortage” of combat infantry.
Greater reliance on paid fighters from the Russian private military company Wagner Group for frontline duties rather than their usual work in special operations was seen as a further sign that Russia’s military is under stress six months into the war.
“This is a significant change from the previous employment of the group since 2015, when it typically undertook missions distinct from overt, large-scale regular Russian military activity,” the Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on July 30.
“Wagner’s role has probably changed because the Russian MoD has a major shortage of combat infantry however Wagner forces are highly unlikely to be sufficient to make a significant difference in the trajectory of the war.”
Meanwhile in August it was reported that Ukrainian missiles are reported to have hit a base belonging to pro-Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in the east of the country.
One Ukrainian politician said long-range HIMARS rockets were used in the attack on the city of Popasna.
Wagner group head filmed recruiting Russian convicts
Yesterday
The founder of Russia's shadowy Wagner mercenary group has appeared in leaked footage attempting to recruit prisoners to fight in Ukraine.
In filmed footage, verified by the BBC, Yevgeniy Prigozhin can be seen addressing a large group of detainees.
Mr Prigozhin told prisoners their sentences would be commuted in exchange for service with his group.
The video would confirm long-running speculation that Russia hopes to boost its forces by recruiting convicts.
While Russian law does not allow commutation of prison sentences in exchange for mercenary service, Mr Prigozhin insisted that "nobody goes back behind bars" if they serve with his group.
"If you serve six months (in Wagner), you are free," he said. But he warned potential recruits against desertion and said "if you arrive in Ukraine and decide it's not for you, we will execute you".
He also informed prisoners of Wagner's rules banning alcohol, drugs and "sexual contacts with local women, flora, fauna, men - anything".
Speaking in what appeared to be the penal colony's exercise yard, the mercenary chief also alluded to the difficulties Russia has faced in the protracted conflict, telling potential recruits that "this is a hard war, not even close to the likes of Chechnya and the others".
It is unclear who filmed the video, when it occurred or how it was released.
But the BBC has geolocated the footage to a penal colony in Russia's central Mariy El Republic. Analysts did this by conducting a reverse image search a church visible in the background of the video, which matched to penal colony number six.
A screengrab on the recruiter's face was also run through facial recognition software tools, returning a positive match with an actual photo of Mr Prigozhin.
What is the Wagner Group?
Separately, sources confirmed to the BBC's Russian service that the person in the video was likely Mr Prigozhin.
"This is his voice. His intonation. His words and manner of speaking... I'm 95 percent sure that this is him and this is not a montage," one source told the BBC.
"Very similar, his manner, and his voice is very similar," another said.
The 61-year-old's own company, Concord, refused to deny that he appeared in the footage, noting the "monstrous" similarity when approached by Russian state media.
A November 2011 photo shows Yevgeny Prigozhin (L) assisting Vladimir Putin at a banquet near Moscow© Reuters
Mr Prigozhin - who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin - has previously denied links to the Wagner group, whose forces have been deployed in Ukraine, Syria and several African conflicts.
But in the video, the oligarch can be seen telling inmates that he is a "representative of a private war company".
"Perhaps you heard the name - Wagner Group," he asks the group of prisoners.
He said recruits must be in "good physical shape", before revealing that the first 40 recruits from a penal colony in St Petersburg were deployed during an attack on Vuhlehirska Power Station in eastern Ukraine last June.
He said the prisoners had stormed the Ukrainian trenches and attacked Kyiv's troops with knives. Three of the men - including a 52-year-old who spent more than 30 years in detention - were killed, Mr Prigozhin said.
Later in the video, he warned the convicts, who are all sporting black jump suits, that they will be expected to kill themselves with hand grenades if they are at risk of being captured.
The Wagner group's origins are shadowy, but it is believed to have been formed by an ex-Russian army officer, Dmitri Utkin.
The BBC has previously identified links between the group and Mr Prigozhin, known as "Putin's chef" - so-called because he rose from being a restaurateur and caterer for the Kremlin.
The collective is believed to have been deployed to Ukraine since 2014, and since Russia's invasion in February Ukrainian forces have carried out strikes on what they say were Wagner bases in occupied eastern Ukraine.
In August, US defence officials said up to 80,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured since the war began in February, and Moscow has reportedly turned to Wagner to fill the gap left by the heavy casualties.
Last month, independent Russian media spoke to inmates held in facilities in different locations in Russia who told them that Mr Prigozhin had personally visited their facility to recruit inmates to join the fight in Ukraine.
Yesterday
The founder of Russia's shadowy Wagner mercenary group has appeared in leaked footage attempting to recruit prisoners to fight in Ukraine.
In filmed footage, verified by the BBC, Yevgeniy Prigozhin can be seen addressing a large group of detainees.
Mr Prigozhin told prisoners their sentences would be commuted in exchange for service with his group.
The video would confirm long-running speculation that Russia hopes to boost its forces by recruiting convicts.
While Russian law does not allow commutation of prison sentences in exchange for mercenary service, Mr Prigozhin insisted that "nobody goes back behind bars" if they serve with his group.
"If you serve six months (in Wagner), you are free," he said. But he warned potential recruits against desertion and said "if you arrive in Ukraine and decide it's not for you, we will execute you".
He also informed prisoners of Wagner's rules banning alcohol, drugs and "sexual contacts with local women, flora, fauna, men - anything".
Speaking in what appeared to be the penal colony's exercise yard, the mercenary chief also alluded to the difficulties Russia has faced in the protracted conflict, telling potential recruits that "this is a hard war, not even close to the likes of Chechnya and the others".
It is unclear who filmed the video, when it occurred or how it was released.
But the BBC has geolocated the footage to a penal colony in Russia's central Mariy El Republic. Analysts did this by conducting a reverse image search a church visible in the background of the video, which matched to penal colony number six.
A screengrab on the recruiter's face was also run through facial recognition software tools, returning a positive match with an actual photo of Mr Prigozhin.
What is the Wagner Group?
Separately, sources confirmed to the BBC's Russian service that the person in the video was likely Mr Prigozhin.
"This is his voice. His intonation. His words and manner of speaking... I'm 95 percent sure that this is him and this is not a montage," one source told the BBC.
"Very similar, his manner, and his voice is very similar," another said.
The 61-year-old's own company, Concord, refused to deny that he appeared in the footage, noting the "monstrous" similarity when approached by Russian state media.
A November 2011 photo shows Yevgeny Prigozhin (L) assisting Vladimir Putin at a banquet near Moscow© Reuters
Mr Prigozhin - who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin - has previously denied links to the Wagner group, whose forces have been deployed in Ukraine, Syria and several African conflicts.
But in the video, the oligarch can be seen telling inmates that he is a "representative of a private war company".
"Perhaps you heard the name - Wagner Group," he asks the group of prisoners.
He said recruits must be in "good physical shape", before revealing that the first 40 recruits from a penal colony in St Petersburg were deployed during an attack on Vuhlehirska Power Station in eastern Ukraine last June.
He said the prisoners had stormed the Ukrainian trenches and attacked Kyiv's troops with knives. Three of the men - including a 52-year-old who spent more than 30 years in detention - were killed, Mr Prigozhin said.
Later in the video, he warned the convicts, who are all sporting black jump suits, that they will be expected to kill themselves with hand grenades if they are at risk of being captured.
The Wagner group's origins are shadowy, but it is believed to have been formed by an ex-Russian army officer, Dmitri Utkin.
The BBC has previously identified links between the group and Mr Prigozhin, known as "Putin's chef" - so-called because he rose from being a restaurateur and caterer for the Kremlin.
The collective is believed to have been deployed to Ukraine since 2014, and since Russia's invasion in February Ukrainian forces have carried out strikes on what they say were Wagner bases in occupied eastern Ukraine.
In August, US defence officials said up to 80,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured since the war began in February, and Moscow has reportedly turned to Wagner to fill the gap left by the heavy casualties.
Last month, independent Russian media spoke to inmates held in facilities in different locations in Russia who told them that Mr Prigozhin had personally visited their facility to recruit inmates to join the fight in Ukraine.
Short of soldiers to send to war, Russia’s mercenaries recruit in prisons
Mary Ilyushina - Yesterday -
The Washington Post
Mary Ilyushina - Yesterday -
The Washington Post
© Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
To address Russia’s shortage of soldiers to send to war in Ukraine, the Wagner mercenary group seems to be making an offer that it hopes convicted criminals can’t refuse: a get out of jail card.
“After six months [at war] you receive a pardon, and there is no option for you to return to prison,” a man dressed in tan-colored fatigues said, addressing a crowd of Russian inmates standing underneath a poster that read “Choose life.” “Those who arrive [at the front line] and say on Day 1 it’s not for them get shot,” the man added.
The recording pitch, captured on video, surfaced Monday night on Russian Telegram channels, and the man in fatigues making the offer appears to be Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the billionaire nicknamed “Putin’s chef” who is also the reputed financier of the Wagner private military company.
With Russian President Vladimir Putin refusing to declare a national draft, fearing such a move would be politically toxic, Wagner has been playing an increasingly crucial and public role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It is not clear when the video was filmed, but it appears to provide the first on-record evidence of a recruitment strategy that has been rumor for months: soliciting prisoners to trade prison garb for military uniforms as a way of replenishing Russia’s ranks on the battlefield.
Russia’s shortage of reinforcements was apparently part of the reason Moscow’s troops were unprepared for a Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent days that ousted Russian occupying fosters from most of the northeast Kharkiv region. The successful Ukrainian counteroffensive has only added to Russia’s woes, with some analysts saying Russia is no longer capable of offensive operations, but can only defend the territory it now controls.
Prigozhin, whose chef nickname comes from the lucrative catering contracts awarded to him by the Kremlin, is known as an active supporter of Putin’s political goals, and he is wanted by the F.B.I. for allegedly interfering in U.S. elections. For years, though, he has denied links to Wagner, despite mounting evidence that he is profiting from the deployment of mercenaries to the Middle East and Africa to surreptitiously promote Moscow’s agenda.
But in the video, he starts his pitch by saying openly that he represents Wagner and is looking for recruits as the war in Ukraine “is tough and doesn’t even compare to the Chechen wars or any others.”What is the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary entity in Ukraine?
Prigozhin’s catering company, Concord, coyly said in a Thursday statement that it “can confirm that the person in the video bears an enormous resemblance to Yevgeny Viktorovich [Prigozhin].”
“Judging by his rhetoric, he somehow deals with implementing the tasks of the special operation, and does so successfully … in addition, the person speaking in the video has a great delivery, just like Evgeny Viktorovich [Prigozhin] does,” the company said in its statement.
Another equivocate statement posted by Concord’s press service came from Prigozhin himself: “If I were a prisoner, I would dream of joining this friendly team in order to not only redeem my debt to the Motherland, but also to repay it with interest.”
“Those who do not want mercenaries or prisoners to fight … who do not like this topic, send your children to the front,” Prigozhin said. “It’s either them or your children, decide for yourself.”
Wagner has been leading a double effort to recruit men all over Russia in what the experts called “a shadow mobilization” as Putin has rebuffed calls for national mobilization from several hawkish Russian officials. Such a draft would almost certainly cause an uproar from the public that has been told for months that Moscow is running only a limited “special military operation” in Ukraine.
In addition to online ads and banners in dozens of cities inviting ordinary Russians to sign up, Wagner recruiters have been touring prisons seeking men between the ages of 22 and 50, but its recruiters say an exception is possible for older men if they are in a “good physical form.”Putin, tone deaf and isolated, pursues war ‘goals’ and refuses to lose
In the video, Prigozhin says the first batch of convicts fought in Ukraine on June 1 as Wagner was helping Russia take the Vuhlehirska power station in the Donetsk region. The mercenaries’ success in capturing the site was paraded on Russian state TV in the first public embrace of “the orchestra,” as the private army is often called, in reference to its namesake, right-wing German classical composer Richard Wagner.
“There were 40 people from St. Petersburg, [from a] high-security facility, recidivists,” Prigozhin said. “They entered the enemy trenches, cut them up with knives; there were three dead and seven wounded. Out of the three dead, one was 52 years old and had already served a 30-year-long sentence. He died a hero.”
Gulagu Net, a Russian human rights organization that helps convicts, first received calls and letters from inmates about Wagner’s recruitment efforts back in March. The head of Gulagu Net, Vladimir Osechkin, told The Washington Post in an interview last month that the effort was very limited at the time.
“Those were colonies for former law enforcement officers. … They were looking for those with combat experience, who took part in counterterrorism operations and various hostilities,” Osechkin said.
“We are talking special forces here, people who know what a weapon is,” he added. “They were told they would be commanders, that the motherland needs them, but as far as we understand, this campaign failed as they haven’t been able to recruit many of them.”
But as Russia’s campaign in Ukraine stalled since the initial gains in the spring, the effort to find fresh reinforcements took on new urgency.
“Starting in July, the number of calls we received grew exponentially, saying that Wagner has launched a mass recruitment campaign in regular colonies,” Osechkin said.How the fighting in Ukraine could lead to a war crimes case against Iran
The enlistment approach was two-pronged: Some convicts were offered support roles, such as digging trenches and doing various construction work near separatist-controlled areas in the eastern Donbas region. Others were recruited for units of 12 people tasked with “special combat missions,” even though they often had little military training.
“It all points to the fact that the Russian army has a personnel shortage, and they are trying to replenish it using prisoners whom they don’t care about,” Osechkin said.
Another civil rights organization, Russia Behind Bars, which has long investigated horrific conditions in Russian prisons, estimated that approximately 7,000 to 10,000 convicts have already been sent to fight in Ukraine.
Both organizations have voiced concern that prisoners are being tricked into joining a potential suicide mission with no legal guarantees, as well as concern about releasing potentially violent convicted criminals serving decades-long sentences for murder or aggravated assault.
“In addition to it being immoral and very dangerous, it also means that the concept of ‘crime’ no longer exists in Russia; they wiped their feet on the judicial system,” the head of Russia Behind Bars, Olga Romanova, wrote in a Facebook post.
According to Gulagu Net, Putin awarded at least one Russian convict who fought in Ukraine with a medal of bravery: Ivan Neparatov, a member of an organized crime group who served 12 years out of his 25-year sentence for murder, robbery and kidnapping.
On the video, Prigozhin told the inmates of the penal colony, which The Post identified to be in the small Mari El republic in central Russia, that he was looking for the most brazen “stormtroopers,” willing to be thrown into hot spots as infantry.
“You have five minutes to make a decision,” he said. “Regarding trust and guarantees, do you have anyone who can get you out of prison alive? Allah and God can get you out [dead]. I am taking you out of here alive. But it’s not always that I bring you back alive.”
To address Russia’s shortage of soldiers to send to war in Ukraine, the Wagner mercenary group seems to be making an offer that it hopes convicted criminals can’t refuse: a get out of jail card.
“After six months [at war] you receive a pardon, and there is no option for you to return to prison,” a man dressed in tan-colored fatigues said, addressing a crowd of Russian inmates standing underneath a poster that read “Choose life.” “Those who arrive [at the front line] and say on Day 1 it’s not for them get shot,” the man added.
The recording pitch, captured on video, surfaced Monday night on Russian Telegram channels, and the man in fatigues making the offer appears to be Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the billionaire nicknamed “Putin’s chef” who is also the reputed financier of the Wagner private military company.
With Russian President Vladimir Putin refusing to declare a national draft, fearing such a move would be politically toxic, Wagner has been playing an increasingly crucial and public role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It is not clear when the video was filmed, but it appears to provide the first on-record evidence of a recruitment strategy that has been rumor for months: soliciting prisoners to trade prison garb for military uniforms as a way of replenishing Russia’s ranks on the battlefield.
Russia’s shortage of reinforcements was apparently part of the reason Moscow’s troops were unprepared for a Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent days that ousted Russian occupying fosters from most of the northeast Kharkiv region. The successful Ukrainian counteroffensive has only added to Russia’s woes, with some analysts saying Russia is no longer capable of offensive operations, but can only defend the territory it now controls.
Prigozhin, whose chef nickname comes from the lucrative catering contracts awarded to him by the Kremlin, is known as an active supporter of Putin’s political goals, and he is wanted by the F.B.I. for allegedly interfering in U.S. elections. For years, though, he has denied links to Wagner, despite mounting evidence that he is profiting from the deployment of mercenaries to the Middle East and Africa to surreptitiously promote Moscow’s agenda.
But in the video, he starts his pitch by saying openly that he represents Wagner and is looking for recruits as the war in Ukraine “is tough and doesn’t even compare to the Chechen wars or any others.”What is the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary entity in Ukraine?
Prigozhin’s catering company, Concord, coyly said in a Thursday statement that it “can confirm that the person in the video bears an enormous resemblance to Yevgeny Viktorovich [Prigozhin].”
“Judging by his rhetoric, he somehow deals with implementing the tasks of the special operation, and does so successfully … in addition, the person speaking in the video has a great delivery, just like Evgeny Viktorovich [Prigozhin] does,” the company said in its statement.
Another equivocate statement posted by Concord’s press service came from Prigozhin himself: “If I were a prisoner, I would dream of joining this friendly team in order to not only redeem my debt to the Motherland, but also to repay it with interest.”
“Those who do not want mercenaries or prisoners to fight … who do not like this topic, send your children to the front,” Prigozhin said. “It’s either them or your children, decide for yourself.”
Wagner has been leading a double effort to recruit men all over Russia in what the experts called “a shadow mobilization” as Putin has rebuffed calls for national mobilization from several hawkish Russian officials. Such a draft would almost certainly cause an uproar from the public that has been told for months that Moscow is running only a limited “special military operation” in Ukraine.
In addition to online ads and banners in dozens of cities inviting ordinary Russians to sign up, Wagner recruiters have been touring prisons seeking men between the ages of 22 and 50, but its recruiters say an exception is possible for older men if they are in a “good physical form.”Putin, tone deaf and isolated, pursues war ‘goals’ and refuses to lose
In the video, Prigozhin says the first batch of convicts fought in Ukraine on June 1 as Wagner was helping Russia take the Vuhlehirska power station in the Donetsk region. The mercenaries’ success in capturing the site was paraded on Russian state TV in the first public embrace of “the orchestra,” as the private army is often called, in reference to its namesake, right-wing German classical composer Richard Wagner.
“There were 40 people from St. Petersburg, [from a] high-security facility, recidivists,” Prigozhin said. “They entered the enemy trenches, cut them up with knives; there were three dead and seven wounded. Out of the three dead, one was 52 years old and had already served a 30-year-long sentence. He died a hero.”
Gulagu Net, a Russian human rights organization that helps convicts, first received calls and letters from inmates about Wagner’s recruitment efforts back in March. The head of Gulagu Net, Vladimir Osechkin, told The Washington Post in an interview last month that the effort was very limited at the time.
“Those were colonies for former law enforcement officers. … They were looking for those with combat experience, who took part in counterterrorism operations and various hostilities,” Osechkin said.
“We are talking special forces here, people who know what a weapon is,” he added. “They were told they would be commanders, that the motherland needs them, but as far as we understand, this campaign failed as they haven’t been able to recruit many of them.”
But as Russia’s campaign in Ukraine stalled since the initial gains in the spring, the effort to find fresh reinforcements took on new urgency.
“Starting in July, the number of calls we received grew exponentially, saying that Wagner has launched a mass recruitment campaign in regular colonies,” Osechkin said.How the fighting in Ukraine could lead to a war crimes case against Iran
The enlistment approach was two-pronged: Some convicts were offered support roles, such as digging trenches and doing various construction work near separatist-controlled areas in the eastern Donbas region. Others were recruited for units of 12 people tasked with “special combat missions,” even though they often had little military training.
“It all points to the fact that the Russian army has a personnel shortage, and they are trying to replenish it using prisoners whom they don’t care about,” Osechkin said.
Another civil rights organization, Russia Behind Bars, which has long investigated horrific conditions in Russian prisons, estimated that approximately 7,000 to 10,000 convicts have already been sent to fight in Ukraine.
Both organizations have voiced concern that prisoners are being tricked into joining a potential suicide mission with no legal guarantees, as well as concern about releasing potentially violent convicted criminals serving decades-long sentences for murder or aggravated assault.
“In addition to it being immoral and very dangerous, it also means that the concept of ‘crime’ no longer exists in Russia; they wiped their feet on the judicial system,” the head of Russia Behind Bars, Olga Romanova, wrote in a Facebook post.
According to Gulagu Net, Putin awarded at least one Russian convict who fought in Ukraine with a medal of bravery: Ivan Neparatov, a member of an organized crime group who served 12 years out of his 25-year sentence for murder, robbery and kidnapping.
On the video, Prigozhin told the inmates of the penal colony, which The Post identified to be in the small Mari El republic in central Russia, that he was looking for the most brazen “stormtroopers,” willing to be thrown into hot spots as infantry.
“You have five minutes to make a decision,” he said. “Regarding trust and guarantees, do you have anyone who can get you out of prison alive? Allah and God can get you out [dead]. I am taking you out of here alive. But it’s not always that I bring you back alive.”
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