Together with the Russian Sitting charity which supports families of convicts, the Verstka news website reported that the Wagner group persuaded up to 1,000 Russian criminals from 17 prisons to sign up to fight in Ukraine in exchange for a salary and a presidential pardon. “Three detainees told human rights activists that businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin was allegedly coming to the colony,” it said. Verstka cited a spokesman for Mr. Prigozhin who said he had not been involved in the recruitment effort.
“Sex offenders are usually not chosen”
Prisoners who spoke to activists from the Russia Sitting said that physical fitness and a belief in “defense of the motherland” were the top criteria of Wagner’s recruiters. “First, recruiters are interested in those convicted of murder and robbery,” Verstka said, referring to prisoners. “These inmates who are in prison for drug and sex offenses are usually not selected.” After volunteering, potential criminal recruits are also put through an immediate physical test to see if they can handle the rigors of life as a mercenary. “Wagner recruiters refuse the elderly and people with serious illnesses. For testing, they are asked to do push-ups on the floor, sit-ups and do other physical exercises,” the inmates told Verstka. Only then are they sent from their prison to basic training and then to the front lines in Donbass, eastern Ukraine. But Russia Sitting has warned prisoners and their families that this is not the easy way out of a prison sentence they may be looking for. On her website, she said all promises made by Wagner and other Russian mercenary groups called Shield, Slavic Corps, Patriot and Redut are legally unenforceable and should not be trusted. Wagner offers recruits a 200,000-ruble (£2,700) monthly salary, a presidential pardon and a so-called “coffin payment” to the mercenary’s family if he is killed. “We can advise relatives, if possible, to transfer the risks to their loved ones and try to dissuade them from accepting the offers of mercenary recruiters,” Russian Sitting said.
