Yevgeny Prigozhin, also known as “Putin’s cook”, apparently personally goes to Russian prisons and recruits “murderers and robbers”. They are supposed to go to war for Putin and get “freedom and money” in return, reports the independent Russian media company Mediazona.
Prisoners from the Russian regions of Yaroslavl and Tula are said to have contacted the independent media project “Mediazona” and told of a short, bald man who is said to have visited several detention centers in Russia to recruit prisoners there. His offer: money and freedom to go to war against Ukraine. They are supposed to fight for the so-called Wagner group.
The short, bald man is apparently Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s cook”. The boss of the Russian catering company Konkord and operator of the only private restaurant in the building of the Russian Parliament is also said to be the owner of the Wagner group. According to the Mediazona report, Putin’s confidante is now personally going to prison camps to recruit mercenaries.
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The prison inmates described in detail their meetings with the man who spoke on behalf of the group Wagner and indicated that they recognized him as Prigozhin. “I’m 1,000% sure it was Prigozhin. He arrived with the star of Russia. He said he represented Wagner’s legalized PMC (Private Combat Troops, ed.) and had the authority to offer us participation in the war,” one of the prisoners wrote to Mediazona.
According to the media report, the convicts were told that “World War III is underway” and that it is possible to take part in it on the side of Russia.
Prigozhin and his people apparently made big promises of money. Those who accepted the mercenary offer were offered 100,000 rubles (1,589 euros) a month “plus a bonus of the same amount” and, in the event of a “dignified” death, five million rubles as a payout for the family. According to him, the probability of dying in war is only 15 percent. Other convicts confirmed this to the media company.
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“They are primarily interested in murderers and robbers, they are suspicious of drug addicts, the same applies to rapists,” says one of the inmates, describing the recruitment situation. More than 200 people would then also have registered for the mercenary job: “First-time convicts with long prison sentences”.
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During his visit to penal colony 4 in Plavs, in the Tula region, Prigozhin repeatedly emphasized: “I have special powers from the president, I shit on everyone, I have to win this damn war at any price,” a prisoner from Mediazona is quoted as saying.
Military experts recently confirmed that Ukraine can increasingly take the initiative in the war, as Russian troops are increasingly under pressure and some are going on the defensive. The massive expenditure of armed forces is apparently to be borne by the Wagner group with mercenaries from Russian prisons.
