Russia takes control over Wagner Group's prison recruitment pipeline

22 July 2023 , 07:36

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, looks from a military vehicle (Image: AP)

The Russian Wagner Group is poised to set free the last of its convict recruits as Russia seizes control of the prison recruitment pipeline.

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin once boasted that he recruited 50,000 convicts to fill the ranks of his mercenary army to help aid Russia with the war in Ukraine. The troops held a huge role in capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut which was one of Russia's few recent claims of success.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence said in its daily update on Friday, that the recruitment drive of criminals only resulted in "one of the bloodiest episodes in modern military history". It said: “Up to 20,000 convict recruits were killed within a few months.”

Prigozhin during a recruitment drive visit to a penal colony in Russia

The mass hiring was known as the Project K recruitment scheme and the thugs were offered a complete pardon if they survived six months in Ukraine.

Now British officials say the last of its convict recruits will soon be released from their mandated service, adding that a "significant number" of the now-pardoned convicts likely will take up Wagner’s offer to continue with the private military company as professional contractors.

'I ventured into Alcatraz after dark and was terrified by what I saw and heard'

The statement continued: "The Russian (Ministry of Defence) has taken over Wagner’s prison recruitment pipeline. The end of the scheme marks a waypoint in the history of Wagner and Russia’s war in Ukraine."

According to Poland’s deputy minister coordinator of special services Stanislaw Zaryn, "these Russian criminals and thugs" are now set to train the Belarusian army and settle in locations that have been "prepared for them."

A video has appeared in recent days allegedly showing Prigozhin addressing his fighters in Belarus and calling the Russian war effort in Ukraine a "disgrace." It is the first clip of the leader since his failed coup on Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.

The video, which was published by two Telegram channels affiliated with the Wagner mercenary company, showed a man who resembled and sounded like Prigozhin telling his fighters: "Welcome to the Belarusian land! We have fought with dignity. We have done very much for Russia!"

"What is happening at the front now is a disgrace in which we do not need to participate", he continued. "[We will] wait for the moment when we can prove ourselves in full."

Meanwhile, the UK-sanctioned 13 individuals and businesses linked to the actions of the Russian Wagner Group.

Andrew Mitchell, Minister for Development and Africa, said: "The Wagner Group is committing atrocities in Ukraine, as well as acting with impunity in countries like Mali, Central African Republic and Sudan.

"Wherever Wagner operates, it has a catastrophic effect on communities, worsens existing conflicts and damages the reputations of countries that host them."

Rachel Hagan