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The shortage of infantry on the battle front in Ukraine has prompted the Kremlin-linked private military force known as the Wagner Group to recruit Russian detainees to flag its forces.
British intelligence on Friday said the mercenary group has been working since at least July to increase Moscow’s ranks by heading to Russian prisons to incite volunteers to leave their cells and head to Ukraine.
“Prisoners were offered sentence commutation and cash incentives,” the UK Defense Ministry said in a daily briefing. “This has been reinvigorated, with a recently released video most likely showing Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin making a recruiting attempt for prisoners.”
MARIUPOL, UKRAINE Russian military and pro-Russian separatists keep an eye on the evacuation of civilians along humanitarian corridors from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on March 24, 2022.
(Photo by Stringer / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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A video appeared on Telegram this week depicting Prigozhin addressing the inmates, who all wore black prison uniforms, and points out that he was specifically looking for “shock unit fighters” to take up arms against Kiev.
“Nobody goes behind bars,” Prigozhin told inmates according to Yaroslav Trofimov of the Wall Street Journal. “If you save six months, you are free. If you arrive in Ukraine and decide it is not for you, we will execute you.”
Prigozhin reportedly went on to say he could not give any “guarantees” but stressed that “only two other people can get you out of here, God and Allah, and they will do it in a wooden coffin.”
“I can get you out alive. But you might not stay alive,” he added.
TOPSHOT – This photograph, taken on September 11, 2022, shows a Ukrainian soldier standing in an abandoned Russian tank near a village on the outskirts of Izyum in the Kharkiv region.
(Photo by JUAN BARRETO / AFP via Getty Images)
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The UK Defense Ministry said Russian academies had also started to reduce the training period of its new cadets and said they would likely go to the front lines.
“The impact of Russia’s workforce challenge has become increasingly severe,” the ministry said. “The acceleration of cadet officer training and Wagner’s demand for shock troops suggest that two of the most critical shortcomings within the military manning crisis are likely combat infantry and junior commanders.”
Firefighters put out a fire following a Russian bombing raid in a park in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Tuesday, May 3.
(AP / Felipe Dana)
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The latest attempts to bring Russian boots to the fore come as Ukrainian troops have made significant progress in the past two weeks since launching a major counter-offensive.
Western defense officials said their ability to advance rapidly was due to coordinated effort and strategic planning, coupled with Russia’s inability to properly resupply and reorganize its troops in the north over the past six months.
