Russia’s Defence Ministry starts recruiting prisoners for war, following Wagner Group
STANISLAV POHORILOV — TUESDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2022, 18:46
Russia’s Ministry of Defence has started recruiting prisoners from penitentiary establishments to fight in Ukraine, just as the private military company Wagner did before.
Source: Russian outlet Vazhnyie Istorii (Important Stories)
Details: Two sources who are relatives of prisoners in Penal Colony 3 in Ryazan Oblast and Penal Colony 4 in Stavropol Krai told Important Stories about the Defence Ministry recruiting people there.
Both those penitentiary establishments are considered "red colonies", where former employees of the armed forces, security and law enforcement agencies are held.
According to the sources, the Defence Ministry is offering prisoners the chance to join the so-called Storm Battalion that has been set up on the basis of the Southern Military District. The first recruits may have been taken from Penal Colony 4 on the night of 10-11 October.
The proposed contract conditions are reportedly the same as for the Wagner Group, but the prisoners have a higher level of trust in the military.
The media are suggesting that for the Storm Battalion, the Defence Ministry is exclusively recruiting prisoners from penal colonies for its former employees.
Background:
- On 4 July 2022, Important Stories reported that Wagner had started recruiting "volunteer participants" from penitentiary establishments in St Petersburg to fight in Ukraine.
- On 20 July, the same outlet stated that Wagner had recruited Russian prisoners in half a dozen penitentiary establishments in Russia.
- On 14 September, a video was posted online that showed the oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is close to Vladimir Putin and who organised the so-called Wagner private military company, personally encouraging Russian prisoners to go to fight in Ukraine.
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