Ruminations: The Russian Military, Conscripts, Thugs and Criminals

"Three prisoners told human rights activists that businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin was allegedly coming to the colony."
"Firstly, recruiters show interest in those convicted for murder and robbery. Those inmates in prison for drug and sex offences are normally not selected."
"Wagner recruiters refuse elderly people and those with serious illnesses."
"To check, they are asked to do push-ups on the floor, sit-ups and perform other physical exercises."
Verstka news Website

Putin is turning to prisons to recruit frontline personnel (Image: Getty)

First there were rumours months ago that Russia was sending raw recruits, young Russian men conscripted into the Russian military, half-trained and never informed initially where they were going and why, into Ukraine for Russia's 'special military operation'. Russian mothers of these young men receiving confused messages from their sons were outraged and many complained vociferously. Now, many among them mourn the loss of those young recruits, with the conflict burning through countless Russian and Ukrainian military servicemen.

From raw recruits, alongside seasoned veterans who have gained a reputation for themselves and for Russia as war criminals, not merely soldiers in their penchant for attacking and murdering Ukrainian civilians, for bombing civilian infrastructure, for raping and looting, a critical shortage of military personnel, not only at the lower levels, but leaders and commanders, is sending the Kremlin through the intervention of Putin supporters, to prisons.

The issue of insufficient numbers of frontline personnel has influenced a Kremlin insider, Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the secretive Wagner Group, a militia known as brutal mercenaries for hire. They have seen action in some of the world's hot spots, including Africa, where their fighting expertise minus any persuasive sense of morality has earned them an unenviable reputation for brutality and efficiency as a conflict tool any group can hire.

But it is loyal to Russia, and Prigozhin is a personal friend and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in service to his interests, and his interests at the present time is the total destruction of Ukraine as a nation imagining itself sovereign and democratic. The "Russian Sitting" charity whose purpose for existence is the support of families of convicts, worked alongside the Wagner Group to help recruit prisoners to fight in Ukraine. They did caution inmates this option did not represent an easy escape from a prison sentence.

Russia has lost over 42,000 troops since the start of the war (Image: Getty)

On its website, the "Russian Sitting" charity informed the families of the convicts that all the promises made by Wagner and other Russian mercenary groups such as Shield, Slavic Corps, Patriot and Redut are legally impossible to enforce and that they should not be trusted. That's called 'eyes wide open'. Recruits to Wagner are offered 200,000 roubles (€3,202) as a monthly salary along with a presidential pardon and a “coffin payment” to the family of the mercenary if he is killed.

Once the inspection procedure is completed, those convicts that are accepted into the program are sent to basic military training before joining frontline forces in the Donbas region. The report published in the Verstka news website claimed that up to a thousand criminals from 17 prisons were persuaded by Wagner to sign up to fight in Ukraine once their physical condition was verified as well as a stated allegiance to "defend the Motherland"; top recruiting criteria.