Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin boasted that he recruited 50,000 convicts to fill the ranks of his Wagner Group mercenary military, the majority of its troops preventing in Ukraine. They had been closely concerned within the seize of the japanese Ukrainian metropolis of Bakhmut for Russia, considered one of Moscow’s few latest claims of success.
Wagner’s recruitment scheme, often known as Project Ok, peaked in early 2023. Now British officers say the final of its convict-recruits will quickly be launched from their mandated service, including {that a} “significant number” of the now-pardoned convicts possible will take up Wagner’s supply to proceed with the non-public army firm as skilled contractors.
“The Russian (Ministry of Defense) has taken over Wagner’s prison recruitment pipeline,” U.Ok. army intelligence officers mentioned Friday of their newest evaluation of the battlefield.
The finish of the Wagner Group jail recruiting program marks a waypoint within the historical past of the mercenary military and of Russia’s struggle in Ukraine. It gave Wagner ample manpower and fight coaching to problem the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin, British officers mentioned on Twitter.
“It also marks one of the bloodiest episodes in modern military history. Up to 20,000 convict-recruits were killed within a few months,” British officers mentioned.
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