Will Russia run out of soldiers in the Ukraine war?
The Wagner mercenary group now also allows the mentally ill to be recruited.
Moscow – The Ukraine war has increasingly developed into a war of attrition in recent months.
The losses are equally high for Russia and Ukraine - but the Russian approach to recruiting supplies always causes a stir.
The offensive in February 2022 was followed by heavy fighting, which focused in particular on eastern Ukraine.
Now, in the 13th month of the most recent escalation of the Ukraine war by Vladimir Putin, the lack of personnel in Russia is causing a state of emergency: According to media reports, the Wagner Group is now also relying on men who have been treated in mental institutions.
High losses at Gruppe Wagner: Chief Prigoschin is running out of fighters in the Ukraine war
The Wagner Group has become a central figure in current events in the Ukraine war.
Wagner boss Prigozhin recently caused a stir with the threat that he could order his soldiers to leave Crimea.
But Putin's “shadow army” is not only used in south-eastern Ukraine.
The Wagner mercenaries also attacked the Ukrainian defenders in the battles for Bachmut - albeit at the cost of heavy losses.
This strategy in the Ukraine war is now leading to the fact that the Russian mercenary force is relaxing the conditions for service due to the lack of personnel.
As the independent Internet newspaper "Moscow Times" reports, Prigozhin now also allows men with previous mental illnesses to fight in the Ukraine war.
The mercenary troop advertises that psychiatric and medical certificates are no longer required for recruitment, it is said.
The Wagner group from Russia, which has repeatedly represented Russia's interests in global hotspots in recent years, is even willing to hire men who have been treated in a mental institution because of the high losses in the war in Ukraine.
Wagner Group relied on Russian prisoners in the Ukraine war: Chief Prigoshin recruited 50,000 fighters
It is not the first time that the Wagner group of mercenaries has attracted attention with dubious recruitment methods.
As early as autumn 2022, Yevgeny Prigozhin recruited convicts from Russian prisons to fight in Ukraine.
Poorly equipped and trained, the young mercenaries were promised freedom after they had successfully fought at the front in the Ukraine war.
The tactic probably worked: several reports estimate the number of prisoners who went to war for Vladimir Putin at around 50,000.
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
If the fighters survive their months-long frontline deployment in the Ukraine war, freedom beckons.
In recent months, however, this has only turned out to be a small glimmer of hope.
Hundreds of Wagner mercenaries are said to die every day, especially in the battles for Bachmut.
The fact that the high losses are now deterring the next generation can be seen with a look at new recruits.
Gruppe Wagner: Because of the Ukraine war, recruitment is now also allowed for the mentally ill
There are currently fewer and fewer volunteers for the Wagner group.
On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the news that service at the front in the Ukraine war would correspond to a suicide mission is spreading more and more.
In addition, Prigozhin is said to no longer have access to Russian prisons.
But how was the change in recruitment for the Wagner group noticed?
As the German Press Agency quotes the Moscow newspaper, a correspondent posed as a volunteer and spoke to a recruiter.
When asked if it was not a problem that he had been treated for a nervous breakdown, he only advised him to assess his condition himself.
According to their own regulations, the Wagner troupe does not take in any seriously ill patients, hepatitis patients or drug addicts.
According to the report, however, the check is limited to an express test with blood and urine samples for possible drug detection.
(fbu with dpa)