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By Jon Jackson
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- A new report warns that thousands of Russian convicts recruited by the Wagner Group for the war in Ukraine are due to be released soon.
- Many of these former prisoners had been incarcerated for violent offenses.
- The Wagner Group was founded by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who offered male prisoners commuted sentences and cash incentives in exchange for military service in Ukraine.
- The sudden influx of former inmates with recent and often traumatic combat experience into Russian society could present a "significant challenge."
Thousands of Russian convicts recruited by the Wagner Group to fight in Ukraine are likely to soon be released into Russian society, according to the British Ministry of Defense (MOD).
In its Tuesday intelligence update posted on Twitter, the MOD noted that many of these former prisoners had been incarcerated for violent offenses.
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The Wagner Group of mercenaries emerged as a major factor in aiding Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces in the war in Ukraine. The organization's founder and leader, Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, has also become one of the war's most recognizable figures due to his frequent social media use. He's also gained attention for his controversial practice of recruiting convicts from Russian prisons to fill Wagner's ranks.
"In the coming weeks, thousands of Russian convicts who have fought for Wagner Group are likely to be pardoned and released," the MOD wrote in its update, adding that the "certificates issued to freed Wagner veterans claim to have been endorsed by the decree of President Putin."
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Prigozhin made a public recruitment drive in prisons in 2022, during which he offered male prisoners commuted sentences and cash incentives in exchange for six months of military service in Ukraine. In September, a leaked video showed the oligarch enlisting new members for his paramilitary outfit from Russia's penitentiary system.
One way in which many of these prisoners were reportedly used was for a war tactic known as a "human wave." Retired Lieutenant General Stephen Twitty, who is also a former deputy commander of U.S. European Command, described the human wave strategy in a recent Newsweek story,
He said Wagner mercenaries—mostly those recruited from prisons—were being forced first into combat situations to kill as many Ukrainian troops as they can and to help locate Ukrainians before Russia's more professional forces would enter the scene.
"It's a shame to see the wave of convicts and conscripts that have been put in the battle—poorly trained, poorly equipped, and acted as human waves—in order to accomplish this objective," Twitty said.
By early February, Prigozhin announced in a message on the Telegram channel for the press service of his Concord company that he was no longer seeking prisoners for Wagner. That statement came soon after a report by journalist Olga Romanova, head of the Rus Seated charity foundation, which stated that many of Wagner's fighters in Ukraine had either surrendered, deserted or been killed.
The MOD offered a similar evaluation of the Wagner prisoner recruits, writing that "approximately half of the prisoners recruited have likely been killed or wounded."
The ministry also noted that by following through with its commitment to grant freedom upon six months of service, Wagner could soon find its ranks depleted.
"With Wagner now likely banned from recruiting more prisoners, this exodus will worsen its personnel problems," the MOD wrote in its update.
Another issue, according to the MOD, could be what the release of these prisoners into Russia means for the Russian public, writing that "the sudden influx of often violent offenders with recent and often traumatic combat experience will likely present a significant challenge for Russia's war-time society."
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
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