Russian Pows Are Promised Freedom If They Join the War Against Ukraine

• Russian Pows in St. Petersburg offered amnesty and money if they join Putin’s war against Ukraine.
• Wagner Group offers 200 thousand rubles ($3,446) and six months of “volunteer” service.
• Prisoners were reportedly promised $85,873 as compensation for their families in the event of death.

Russian Pows in St. Petersburg are being offered freedom and money if they join Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.

According to relatives of inmates serving sentences in the city, the notorious Russian mercenary Wagner Group is promising to pay 200 thousand rubles ($3,446) and an amnesty for six months of “volunteer” service in the Donbas region—if the prisoners return alive.

Convicts serving sentences at St. Petersburg’s IK-7 “Yablonevka” and IK-6 “Obukhovo” prisons were reportedly promised five million rubles ($85,873) as compensation for their families in the event of death.

According to a relative of a felon, prisoners were asked to “defend the Motherland.”

The prisoners were first told that only those who had previously served or fought in battle would be considered. But a few hours later, everybody was considered, and some 40 people signed up.

“All this is only in words, it will not be recorded anywhere on paper. At the same time, all the information is not transmitted directly, but through the foremen [prisoners who help the colony staff manage the units],” said a relative of one of the prisoners.

According to a relative, the detainees were informed that around 20% would return.

The news organisation also met with the families of a prisoner who accepted to be transferred to the Donbas region. The prisoner was apparently lured by the promise that he would be released in six months and that his criminal record would be cleared.

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“In addition, when six months have passed and someone wants to continue their service, this company will provide work,” the relative said.

Some relatives said convicts were asked to serve, while others said that they were asked to restore infrastructure. The first group of “volunteers” are already being prepared for deployment, a source said.

The Wagner Group is an elite paramilitary force that has been linked to Putin. The British Ministry of Defense said in April that the group was sent to eastern Ukraine, as Russia shifted its focus to the Donbas region.

The enigmatic paramilitary force was founded in 2014, during the conflict in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas and Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Authorities in the United States claim that the group is supported by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to Putin, though Prigozhin has long denied any involvement with the mercenary outfit.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin denies the existence of the Wagner Group and any participation with it.

According to Jamie Williamson, executive director of the International Code of Conduct Association, the Wagner Group is staffed by ex-Russian army personnel and functions as a “military contract group.”

In terms of ownership and where the money is, there are clear links to the Kremlin “According to Williamson.

“However, the Russian government does not acknowledge them as a means of plausible deniability and attribution.

“But they are seen as a military contracting outfit, verging on mercenary type entities similar to what we had in the early Cold War eras, involving some companies in southern Africa and eastern and western Africa.”

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