Following the completion of their contracts to fight for the Wagner Group, more than 5,000 former criminals in Russia received pardons, according to the group’s commander.
For the bloody fight in Ukraine, the private military organisation, which is closely associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, recruited hundreds of prisoners.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner, declared today that thousands of inmates have “finished their contracts” after untold numbers had perished.
‘At the present time, more than 5,000 people have been released on pardon after completing their contracts with Wagner,’ Prigozhin said on Telegram, per Reuters.
Analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, said Monday it expected Wagner to lose half of its prisoners in the coming weeks as their six-month contracts expire.
The American research group said thousands of prisoners were recruited in the Autumn of last year on the promise of freedom six months down the line.
Citing the UK Ministry of Defence, the report said: ‘The UK MoD forecasted that the exodus of convict forces would worsen Wagner personnel shortages as the Kremlin has also blocked Wagner from recruiting additional prisoners.’
British intelligence has placed the number of fighters Wagner commands at 50,000 – around 10,000 professional soldiers and 40,000 former inmates.
Prigozhin, himself a former inmate after serving nine years in Soviet times, said only 0.31% of its pardoned prisoners went on to commit another crime.
As Russia struggled during the early days of the war to recruit men, Wagner came to fill in the gaps by drawing troops out of prison cells.
Before the war, it was thought the group had only 5,000 fighters who were mostly veteran former soldiers often from Russia’s elite regiments and special forces.
Prigozhin, after spending years in secrecy, stepped on the public scene in the summer and contrasted his fighters with the failing Russian Army.
Wagner has since become the central fighting force for the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, to end one of the war’s deadliest and longest battles.
Wagner defectors and rights advocates have claimed the recruits are given just two weeks of training before being thrown into the battlefield.
One analyst said Wagner sends prisoners in ‘human waves’ assaults to draw out the fire and gratingly push the front line closer to the enemy at the expense of their lives.
The group has suffered 80% losses as a result, the defence and security analyst Professor Michael Clarke told Sky News last month.
Prigozhin has for months been in a public stand-off with the Russian Defence Ministry as Putin has gradually distanced himself from the Wagner group and banned Wagner from recruiting any more prisoners.
‘Prigozhin has developed a brand consistently mocking the Russian MoD for its disregard for the troops’ wellbeing,’ the Institute for the Study of War added, ‘and is unlikely to anger a convict force by retaining them on the frontlines past the expiration of their contracts.’