The Department of Defense wrote in its daily update on Tuesday that: Vladimir Putin may have turned to “non-traditional recruiting” to swell Russia decimated ranks as his war in Ukraine drags on. The convicts are said to join Russia’s infamous Wagner group of mercenaries, which have been present in Ukraine for nearly a decade.
They have been accused of war crimes and human rights violations around the world.
The Defense Ministry wrote on Twitter: “The staff shortage of the Russian armed forces may force the Russian Ministry of Defense into non-traditional recruitment.
“This includes recruiting personnel from Russian prisons for the Wagner Private Military Company.
“If true, this move likely points to difficulties in replacing the significant numbers of Russian casualties.”
The number of Russian victims in Ukraine is not known, but the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation recently reported that “more than 22,200 job vacancies for contract agents have appeared in regional employment offices of the Russian Federation”.
But the Kremlin continues to stop announcing mass mobilization, which is unlikely to be popular domestically.
Last week it was reported that Russian prisoners were offered nearly £3,000 – and their freedom – to fight alongside the Wagner Group for Moscow in Ukraine.
Relatives of prisoners told Russian news channel iStories that their relatives were promised 200,000 rubles each month and that their sentences would be shortened if they accepted and survive six months of ‘voluntary’ military service.
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Professor Tracey German of King’s College London described how the Wagner Group provides the government of Vladimir Putin “a tool of power that is undeniable” to use at will.
She told the BBC: “The mercenaries are thought to be some of the ‘little green men’ occupying the region.”
She added: “About 1,000 of his mercenaries then supported the pro-Russian militias fighting for control of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.”
Although “leading a mercenary army is against the Russian constitution,” the group is of great value to Moscow, she argued.
She said: “Wagner provides the government with a force that is undeniable.
“Wagner can get involved abroad and the Kremlin can say, ‘It has nothing to do with us’.”