REUTERS
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has taken over the recruitment of convicts to send to the frontlines, wresting control of the enterprise from the Wagner Group, according to the country’s leading prison NGO.
Olga Romanova, the founder of Russia Behind Bars, told The Daily Beast that the Kremlin has sanctioned the recruitment of prisoners into the army for the first time since the Second World War.
On Thursday morning, the Wagner Group boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that his mercenaries would no longer sign up convicts, which has become a signature move as the group sometimes known as “Putin’s private army” plays a key role in Ukraine. “The recruitment of prisoners by the Wagner private military company has completely stopped,” he said on social media.