The mercenary army has increasingly recruited in Russian prison camps.
That could be Yevgeny Prigozhin's undoing.
Munich/Kiev – The mercenary army group Wagner repeatedly caused a stir with their extremely brutal methods in eastern Ukraine.
The private military company of oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin recruited criminals and murderers directly from Russian prison camps and literally burned them at the front near Soledar and Bakhmut.
The Wagner commanders threatened deserters with execution by sledgehammer.
The mercenaries then distributed videos of the executions on the Internet as a deterrent.
Fear and violence now reign among the Wagner mercenaries.
But precisely this circumstance could now be fatal to the mercenary army.
The political scientist Andreas Heinemann-Grüder from the University of Bonn explained in an interview with
fr.de
from
IPPEN.MEDIA
why the condition of the Wagner group has deteriorated significantly in the past months of the war.
Expert sees increasing problems for Wagner mercenaries - "deadly for an organization"
Heinemann-Grüder is a political scientist and professor at the University of Bonn, as well as a senior researcher at the
Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies
.
There he mainly deals with politics and conflicts in the post-Soviet space - including with the Wagner Group.
According to the expert, the mercenary group used to be valued primarily for their good organizations.
"Wagner was actually one of the private military companies in Russia that paid attention to a certain degree of professionalism," said Heinemann-Grüder.
"In essence, Wagner consisted of people who came from the special forces and the GRU military intelligence service or who had already gained experience in the second Chechen war." This professionalism in recruitment and organization distinguished the private army and gave it a kind of supremacy in the environment of the Kremlin.
“Since August, however, Wagner has increasingly been recruiting in Russian prison camps.
And that has had a significant negative impact on her profile," Heinemann-Grüder continued.
“A core task force became a loose group that was deeply divided within itself.
According to estimates, up to 40,000 people had taken in, all of whom had no experience, but were simply convicted criminals or murderers.
This is deadly for an organization that relies on internal discipline and field experience.”
Terror instead of trust: Recruitment in prison camps does considerable damage to the Wagner Group
“With Wagner, inner discipline was based on authority.
There were commanders who were respected.
Whereas now you had to bring this whole culture of violence into the Wagner group through recruitment.
Instead of trust, there is now a culture of fear and terror,” Heinemann-Grüder summarizes the developments.
Putin's circle of power in the Kremlin - the confidants of the Russian President
Putin's circle of power in the Kremlin - the confidants of the Russian President
For the expert, the situation is therefore clear: "This recruitment ultimately contributed to Wagner's internal disintegration." Wagner's decline could also be a reason why the Kremlin would like to promote other private military companies as an alternative to the Wagner Group in the future.
(fd)
