Yevgeny Prigozhin knows how prisons work. According to a report, the Putin confidant is now going personally to prison camps to recruit mercenaries: "My people go to African countries and within two days they don't leave anything alive. And now they're doing the same thing to their enemies in Ukraine."
A close confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appears to have personally recruited mercenaries for his Wagner troupe in prison camps. This is reported by the independent media project Mediazona, founded by Pussy Right activists.
Accordingly, several prisoners from the Yaroslavl and Tula regions stated that their penal colonies had been visited by a small bald man whom they recognized as Prigozhin - also known as "Putin's cook". In the penal colonies, he now apparently offered freedom and money to the camp inmates who had been called up especially for this purpose, should they take part in the war against Ukraine. World War III was underway and it was possible to take part in it on the side of Russia.
"My people go to African countries and leave nothing alive within two days. And now they're doing the same thing to their enemies in Ukraine," Prigozhin is said to have advertised the dubious advantages of his troops to the prisoners. According to the report, the Wagner troupe is primarily "interested in murderers and robbers, they are suspicious of drug addicts, the same goes for rapists". Those who accepted the offer were promised 100,000 rubles a month, the equivalent of around 1,620 euros, plus a bonus of the same amount. In the event of a "dignified" death, the family will receive 5 million rubles, around 80,000 euros.
Prigozhin himself spent years in prison during Soviet times for robbery, fraud and prostitution of minors. Later he became an entrepreneur, head of a notorious troll factory and supporter of the Wagner mercenary group. He also entertained high state guests and the President and became a kind of commissary for the Russian army.
The British Ministry of Defense reported in mid-July that its mercenary force was also using convicted criminals and previously rejected applicants when recruiting new fighters. These new fighters would receive very limited training, which would likely reduce the force's effectiveness and thus its value as a support for the Russian military.
The British experts assume that the Wagner fighters will increasingly fill in the gaps in the invasion of Ukraine. For example, they played a central role in the capture of the cities of Popasna and Lyssychansk, but apparently also suffered heavy losses.
