As of: February 18, 2024, 4:59 a.m
By: Simon Schröder
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Two former Russian prisoners report on Putin's recruitment measures.
The prisoners were intended to serve as cannon fodder in the Ukrainian war.
Kiev - The story of two prison recruits shows the brutality of the notorious Wagner group.
Russian prisoners Vladislav and Mikhail decided against prison time and joined the mercenary group to fight in the Ukrainian War.
They surrendered to the Ukrainian military and are now fighting on the Ukrainian side.
Putin's tactic to keep up appearances: Russian prisoners as cannon fodder
The fact that Russia is using prisoners as fodder in the Ukraine war is nothing new.
The number of Russian prisoners at the front is nevertheless enormous.
An exclusive investigation by the
New York Times
says that current prison recruitment has not been this large since World War II.
This is convenient for President Vladimir Putin.
As long as he can compensate for the front's losses with prisoners, a second round of mobilization of the broader Russian population will be delayed.
While prisoners like Vladislav and Mikhail are sent to the front, Putin can maintain a semblance of normality in the big cities.
Two prisoners tell how Prigozhin recruited them for the Ukrainian war
Vladislav was in prison for grievous bodily harm, Mikhail for fraud.
They were both recruited by the infamous, now deceased Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin when he was looking for new mercenaries for his troops.
The two report on their experiences in an interview on
Radio Free Europe
.
Vladislav says: “Prigozhin and his guards came to our prison by helicopter.
We were surrounded by three rows of special forces when he arrived.”
A fighter wears the badge of the “Russian Volunteer Corps” on his sleeve.
(Archive image) © IMAGO/Madiyevskyy Vyacheslav/Ukrinform
The prisoners were gathered outside and the Wagner boss spoke to the inmates.
Above all, he wanted to recruit prisoners with long prison sentences for serious crimes, said Mikhail.
They were promised freedom and a new beginning.
If they serve at the front for six months, their prison sentence would be paid off and their criminal record would be erased.
What they didn't know: Very few people in the prisoner units survive.
Brutality of the Wagner troop in the Ukraine war: “If you give up, you die”
Mikhail joined the Storm Z unit.
The prisoners were supposed to scout the enemy troops and determine how the Ukrainian army reacts to an attack, the Russian reports.
After initial contact, the mercenaries returned and informed the Russian army about Ukrainian tactics for defense.
Often only five of a troop of 20 men returned.
Both thought they were doomed to die when they were captured by Ukrainian troops.
The Wagner motto was: “If you give up, you die,” says Wladislaw.
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Now the former Wagner mercenaries are fighting on the Ukrainian side in the Russian Volunteer Corps.
The Russian Volunteer Corps is a unit of Russian fighters that supports the Ukrainian army.
The corps was founded in August 2022, as
Reuters
reports.
Putin is relentless towards his critics
Putin's brutality is not only evident in the case of the prison mercenaries who serve as cannon fodder.
Critics and those who oppose Putin fare badly.
Prigozhin, for example, the former leader of the Wagner mercenaries, died in a plane crash in June 2023 after repeatedly criticizing Putin and eventually marching with his mercenaries to Moscow in an uprising.
According to initial Russian reports, Kremlin critic Alexei Navalnyj also died in custody on Friday (February 16).
Navalny was Putin's harshest critic and opponent for years.
In 2020, Navalny narrowly survived a poison attack.
The 47-year-old was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
According to initial reports, he collapsed during a prison walk and died.