A secretly filmed video has surfaced online showing Wagner Group founder and financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin, an oligarch dubbed “Putin’s chef,” training prisoners. “Wagner spends 2.5 times the ammunition fired at Stalingrad,” Mr Prigozhin is heard telling hundreds of black-uniformed recruits, reportedly at a penal colony somewhere in Russia’s federated state of Mordovia. Mr Prigozhin reveals that the prisoners have already fought on the front lines with Wagner, a shadowy private militia group, saying that “in the first attack in Ukraine with 40 prisoners, three died and seven were wounded”. He informs them of Wagner’s rules: “No alcohol and sex with local women. No desertion or surrender – troops will be issued with two hand grenades to detonate if necessary.”
“If you serve six months you are free”
Those taking part must be between the ages of 22 and 50, although perhaps older “if they fit”. “Only two other people can get you out of here, God and Allah, and they will do it in a wooden coffin. I can take you out alive,” says Mr Prigozhin between steps. “No one goes back behind bars,” he continues. “If you serve six months (in Wagner), you’re free. If you get to Ukraine and decide it’s not for you, we’ll execute you.” Russian law does not allow for the commutation of prison terms for mercenary service in Ukraine, although it is unclear whether exceptions can be made in times of war.
