Whether Wagner group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin wants to include the serial killer in his band of Russian mercenaries is unclear, but the US estimates that around 40,000 Russian internees have been recruited to fight in Ukraine.
A figure that matches that reported by the NGO Russia Behind Bars.
Many inmates die in battle.
Recently, pictures of the funeral of the soldier and condemned prisoner Sergei Molodtsov appeared, where he was hailed as a fallen war hero.
Unofficial Russian strategy
The Wagner group is not part of Russia's official military, but according to information from British government sources, the group's soldiers make up around 10 percent of Russia's forces in Ukraine.
-
It is quite obvious that now they are tolerated and cooperate with the official Russian military.
Many would probably claim that the Wagner force is not really private at all, but a kind of cooperation partner of the Russian army, and that they are at least unofficially part of the Russian official warfare, says SVT's Russia correspondent Bert Sundström.
But how does the recruitment of interns take place? And does granting amnesty mean that convicted murderers can be let loose on the streets of Russia?
Hear more in the video.