The Vagner mercenary group is trying to fill the ranks of prisoners in Ukraine

 

The campaign seems to be led by Yevgeny Prigozhin himself, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin who refuses to declare a mass mobilization, the world media write.

 

Putin's chef on a new assignment

In order to solve the problem of the lack of Russian soldiers for the war in Ukraine, the Wagner Group seems to be making an offer that it hopes convicted criminals will not be able to refuse - a get-out-of-jail-free ticket, the Washington Post points out.

 

"After six months, you get a pardon and there is no possibility of going back to prison," is heard on the video that has gone viral.

 

The words are spoken by a man in a brown uniform addressing the gathered Russian prisoners who were standing under a poster that says "Choose life".

 

The video appeared last week on Russian Telegram channels, the Washington Post points out and adds that the man in the uniform appears to be Yevgeny Prigozhin, a billionaire nicknamed "Putin's cook" who is also known as the financier of the private military company Wagner.

 

Wagner is playing an increasingly important, but also public, role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, given Putin's refusal to order national mobilization out of fear that such a move would be politically toxic, while insisting that Russia conduct a limited "special military operation in Ukraine," he says. newspaper and indicates that experts say that Wagner's efforts are part of "shadow mobilization"

 

The lack of reinforcements seems to have been one of the reasons why Russian troops were not ready for the Ukrainian counter-offensive that expelled the occupiers from most of the northeastern region of Kharkiv, the Washington Post assesses, and points out that Ukraine's successful campaign only increased Moscow's troubles, while some analysts say that Russia is more it is not capable of offensive operations, but that it can only defend the territory it controls.

 

The Russian human rights organization, which helps Gulag convicts, learned about Wagner's recruitment activities in prisons for the first time from the prisoners just in March.

 

Gulagu Net chief Vladimir Osechkin told the Washington Post last month that those efforts were limited at the time, as Wagner searched ex-police prisons for people with combat experience. "That campaign failed because they failed to recruit many of them," he added.

 

After the Russian forces' progress slowed after initial gains this spring, efforts to find new recruits gained additional importance. Osechkin said that his organization was informed that since July Vagner has been in a mass recruitment campaign in ordinary prisons.

Aid organizations in Russian prisons have expressed concern that inmates are being lured to join a potentially suicidal mission without legal guarantees, as well as concerns about the release of potentially violent criminals serving decades-long sentences for murder or aggravated assault.

 

"In addition to the fact that it is immoral and very dangerous, it also means that the concept of 'crime' no longer exists in Russia; they have wiped their feet on the judicial system," wrote on Facebook the head of the organization Russia Behind Bars, Olga Romanova.

 

'You've probably heard the name'

The admission of Prigozhin, a businessman and close associate of Putin who is rarely seen in public, that he is connected with Wagner is significant, since he has repeatedly denied the connection with that private military company, according to The New York Times.

 

"I'm a representative of a private military company, you've probably heard of its name, it's called Wagner," says the man whom facial recognition experts say is highly likely to be Prigozhin.

 

Prisoners must be between 22 and 50 years old to join the fights, says the man in the video, adding that there are possible exceptions: the consent of a relative if the prisoner is younger or passing a basic physical fitness test if he is older.

 

Anyone who joins Wagner and then escapes will be considered a deserter and shot, he says. The use of alcohol and drugs is not allowed during service, nor is sexual contact with "local women, flora, fauna or men", the man says, stating that prisoners convicted of drug or sexual abuse may be subjected to additional interrogation.

 

"We are very careful when it comes to those convicted of sexual crimes. But we understand that mistakes happen," he said.

 

 

While Wagner has long been known to recruit people from Russian prisons, this appears to be the first time the recruitment process has been captured on camera, the New York Times said, noting that it is not known when the speech was recorded, but that the mention of a battle in early June suggests that is a recording made in the last three months.

 

Using visual clues on the recording, the New York Times and other media established that the recording was made in a penal colony in the city of Joshkar Ola, in the Republic of Mari El, about 650 kilometers east of Moscow. While it is unclear whether the recording was made secretly or planned, and if so, at whose behest, experts who study Wagner say the video may have been made to raise the group's profile.

 

The video points to new clues about how Russia has already used prisoners recruited by Wagner to fight in Ukraine, according to the New York Times. The man in the video says that 40 recruits from the penal colony in St. Petersburg participated in the seizure of the Vuhlehirsk power plant in eastern Ukraine on June 1. "Of the three dead, one was 52 years old," says the man. "He served 30 years in prison. He died a hero."

 

Olga Romanova from the organization Russia behind bars says that only 10 percent of the Russian convicts who signed up to participate in the war in Ukraine since mid-July were still alive at the beginning of September.

 

Convicts from other Russian penal colonies also told Russia Behind Bars that a man who looks like Prigozhin was also with them and mentioned plans to recruit 20,000 to 50,000 prisoners.

 

What would Prigozhin dream about if he was in prison?

The head of Russian mercenaries has defended the idea of sending prisoners to fight in the war in Ukraine after a video emerged showing him recruiting people in prison, according to the BBC.

 

In a statement published on social networks, Prigozhin pointed out that if he were in prison, he would "dream" of joining Wagner in order to "pay the debt to the homeland". And to those who do not want to fight as mercenaries or prisoners, he said: "Either private military companies and prisoners or your children - you decide."

 

However, Prigozhin's statement did not mention the video from the prison.

 

Britain's Ministry of Defense said the recruitment of prisoners indicated Russia was facing a "critical" shortage of combat infantry troops.

 

Russian law, according to the British public service, does not allow prisoners to be released in exchange for military or mercenary service, although Prigozhin said in the video that "no one goes back behind bars" if he serves in Wagner.

 

"If you serve six months, you are free," he said, but also warned: "If you arrive in Ukraine and decide that it is not for you, we will execute you."

 

"Wagner suffers big losses in Ukraine"

A senior US defense official said on September 19 that Wagner is trying to recruit more than 1,500 convicts for the war in Ukraine, but that many are refusing to join, according to Reuters.

 

"Our information indicates that Wagner is suffering heavy losses in Ukraine, especially, unsurprisingly, among young and inexperienced fighters," the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

The European Union imposed sanctions on the Wagner Group, accusing it of covert operations on behalf of the Kremlin.

 

Putin said that this group does not represent the Russian state, but that private military companies have the right to work anywhere in the world as long as they do not violate Russian law.

Human rights groups and the Ukrainian government have accused members of the Wagner Group of war crimes in Syria and eastern Ukraine since 2014.

 

British military intelligence said in July that Russia was using Wagner to strengthen its fronts in the conflict in Ukraine. In August, the Pentagon announced that between 70,000 and 80,000 members of the Russian forces had been killed or wounded since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.

 

On the other hand, Reuters points out, on September 19, Ukraine made additional progress in liberating the territory in the east in areas that Russia had abandoned, opening the way for a potential attack on the occupation forces in the Donbass region.