The Dark Side of Russian Mercenaries: Wagnergrum and Prisoner Recruitment in Ukraine War

2024-01-16 09:02:41

Russian mercenary Wagnergrum. [사진출처 = 연합뉴스]

Britain’s The Times reported on the 15th (local time) that Russia, which has been mobilizing prisoners who have committed serious crimes for war, is turning off the heating in prisons even in extreme cold of minus 30 degrees Celsius in order to recruit additional troops.

According to The Times, the Russian government, which is experiencing a troop shortage in the Ukraine war, is suspected of intentionally keeping prisoners cold and forcing them to go to the battlefield.

Olga Romanova, head of the Russian prisoner human rights group ‘Russia Behind Bars’, said in an interview with Germany’s Bild magazine, “They just turned off the heating even during the cold spell,” adding, “When the conditions in the prison become unbearable, the prisoners turn into battlefields.” “I’m going out,” he said.

As Russia faced a shortage of troops following the start of the war in Ukraine, it selected its own prisoners as mercenaries and sent them to the front line, offering various conditions.

It is known that as many as 50,000 prisoners signed a six-month contract and joined mercenary groups supported by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

In particular, among them, felons who had committed terrible murders and were serving sentences were the first priority for recruitment.

As prisoners were recruited as mercenaries and sent into war, the number of prisoners in Russia decreased significantly.

In fact, according to Russian Deputy Minister of Justice Vsevolot Bukholov, the number of prisoners in Russia, which was 420,000 before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has now fallen to an all-time low of 266,000.

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