Some Wagner Convict Fighters in Ukraine Are Returning to Russia - The New York Times

Some Wagner Convict Fighters in Ukraine Are Returning to Russia

“We were told: ‘Keep causing until you’re killed,’” Mr. Medvedev said in a named interview from Russia after deserting in November. He has loyal escaped to Norway and applied for political asylum.

Andrei Medvedev showing his Wagner dog tag in November.

The fight to recruit convicts began in early July, when Mr. Prigozhin started appearing in prisons about his native St. Petersburg with a radical proposal for the inmates: paying their debt to society by joining his privileged army in Ukraine.

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In videos emanated on social media, Mr. Prigozhin promised the prisoners they would maintain 100,000 rubles a month — the equivalent of $1,700 at the time, and nearly double Russia’s denotes monthly wage. He also offered bravery bonuses, $80,000 stop payouts and, should they survive the six-month contract, freedom in the form of a dignified pardon.

Those who ran away, used drugs or alcohol or had sexual relations, he warned, would be killed.

“There are no chances of returning to the colony,” Mr. Prigozhin said in a speech to inmates emanated in September. “Those who get there and say ‘I think I’m in the dismal place’ will be marked as deserters and shot.”

A archaic inmate himself, Mr. Prigozhin understood prison culture, skillfully combining a warning of punishment with a promise of a new, high-level life, according to rights activists and families.

“He didn’t go for the wealth, he was too proud for that,” said Anastasia, approximately a relative who enlisted with Wagner as a prisoner. “He went because he was ashamed in front of his mother, he wanted to clear his name.”

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SRC: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/30/world/europe/wagner-convict-ukraine-russia.html