Wagner chief frees prisoners who fought in Ukraine for Russia

Yevgeny Prigozhin filmed telling convicts who served six months on the entrance line, ‘don’t rape girls’ in Russia.

A man wearing a camouflage uniform walks out of PMC Wagner Centre, which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022.
A person carrying a camouflage uniform walks out of PMC Wagner Centre, which is a challenge carried out by the businessman and founding father of the Wagner non-public army group, Yevgeny Prigozhin [File: Igor Russak/Reuters]

The primary batch of Russian prisoners who have been supplied amnesty in return for combating in Ukraine has been launched, the pinnacle of Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, stated in a video.

Revealed by Russia’s Ria Novosti information company, Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen within the video telling a bunch of males: “You’ve labored via your contract. You labored honourably, with dignity.”

Prigozhin stated the boys “ought to be handled with [the] deepest respect by society” after finishing their six-month contracts in Ukraine.

“Don’t drink rather a lot, don’t use medicine, don’t rape girls, don't stand up to no good,” he added.

The Wagner Group, initially staffed by battle-hardened veterans of the Russian armed forces, has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic and Mali, in addition to in Ukraine.

The video emerged after Zambia criticised Russia following the killing of a Zambian pupil, who was serving a jail sentence in Russia, on the frontline in Ukraine after he was granted amnesty for combating within the battle.

Out of the shadows

Earlier than the invasion of Ukraine, the Wagner Group, bankrolled by founder Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch often known as “Putin’s chef”, existed within the shadows.

Final yr, in an interview with Al Jazeera, Marat Gabidullin, an exiled whistleblower who fought for the group, stated Wagner exists to redistribute energy away from the army and use those that might develop into a safety danger.

However since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Wagner mercenaries have been on its entrance line with a brand new public persona.

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 file photo, businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, serves food to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center, during dinner at Prigozhin's restaurant outside Moscow, Russia. Russian news outlets say thousands of Russians have been deployed in Syria by a shadowy, private military contractor linked to Prigozhin. When President Vladimir Putin announced Monday Dec. 11, 2017 that Russia’s campaign in Syria was drawing to a close, he did not mention this secret force. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, Pool, File)
Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, serves meals to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin throughout dinner at Prigozhin’s restaurant exterior Moscow, 2017 [File: Misha Japaridze, Pool, AP Photo]

Situations of launch

In September, a video circulated of a person who resembled Prigozhin in a jail courtyard, providing contracts to prisoners to battle within the warfare in Ukraine.

However the contracts had an extended checklist of circumstances.

Within the video, the unnamed man stated, “When you arrive in Ukraine and resolve it’s not for you, we'll regard it as desertion and can shoot you. Any questions, guys?”

“Nobody provides themselves up,” he stated, including recruits ought to have grenades on them in case of seize.

“When you die, your physique will probably be repatriated to the place you wrote down on the shape.”

It was unattainable to confirm if the person within the video was Prigozhin, however his firm, Harmony, didn't deny it was him.

“After all, if I have been a prisoner, I'd dream of becoming a member of this pleasant crew with a purpose to have the option not solely to redeem my debt to the Motherland, but additionally to repay it with curiosity,” Harmony cited him as saying.

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