Russia: ex-prisoners "hired" by Wagner in Ukraine return to the spotlight
Visitors wearing camouflage uniforms during the inauguration of Wagner's HQ in Saint Petersburg, November 4, 2022. AP - Dmitri Lovetsky
Text by: Anissa El Jabri Follow
2 mins
Prisoners who have completed their contract with Wagner alive are gradually returning to Russia.
The return to society of those who are now pardoned is under the spotlight, allowing Evgueni Prigojine to push his agenda of formalization ever further.
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From our correspondent in Moscow,
“
Blood deserves forgiveness.
How the prisoners of yesterday hired at Wagner become the heroes of the special operation.
It is under this title that the daily
Komsomolskaya Pravda
publishes this Wednesday the first interviews of former prisoners returning after their contracts.
To describe the choice of an ex-convict for the manufacture and sale of psychotropic drugs, the newspaper writes "
180 days in a meat grinder against 12 years in prison
".
Evgueni Prigojine continues to highlight his fighters and therefore his recruitment strategy.
This Wednesday, January 25 on his Telegram channel was published a voice message: the praise made by his superior officer of a fighter ex-convicted for a quadruple murder, father, mother and two children aged 11 and 15, targeted by gusts of Kalashnikov, completed with an axe.
The local press also publishes blurred images of the crime scene, but clear enough for us to guess bodies in a pool of blood.
“
A cool guy!
»
“
As for Stan, what can I say?
I remember him well.
Last July, a strong man, about 60 years old, arrived in my platoon
”, describes the senior officer.
"
I put him in a military squad, to bring ammo.
But after a few days, he joined an attack squad and, at the very first assault, jumped first into a stronghold.
Then he gathered a group of three desperate old men like himself, old thieves, as we jokingly called them.
They crawled slowly at night.
They instilled fear in Ukrainians.
In short, he is an intelligent man.
You can see that he has a lot of life experience.
He was severely injured by shrapnel last November, but wanted to stay on the front line.
A man like him is worth many.
A cool guy!
»
Last September, Evgueni Prigojine already declared: “
Those who do not want mercenaries or prisoners to fight, who do not like this subject, send your children to the front.
It's either them or your children, decide for yourself.
»
The high gear has been engaged for the voices critical of this method of recruitment: like the soldiers of the regular army, the ex-combatants of Wagner could in the future also benefit from the law which penalizes up to 15 years of prison any discredit of the army.
The Duma will in any case think about it.
► To read also: The paramilitary group Wagner poses as a competitor to the Russian army
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