In the video, a man believed to be Yevgeny Prigozhin, the alleged head of the private military company Wagner Group, is seen speaking to a large group in the outdoor area of ​​a prison in Yoshkar-Ola. He describes himself as a representative of the Wagner Group. He tells the prisoners that they will be freed if they serve in the Ukraine with Wagner. “After six months, you go home, pardoned,” he says, but they are warned that any deserters will be executed by firing squad. Image: Screenshot from the video. The prison has been geo-located by Sky News to be located in Yoshkar-Ola, Russia Prigozhin’s company, Concord, has not denied it was him in the video. He said “we can confirm that the man in the video bears a striking resemblance” to him and that “the person in the video has a very good speech, just like Yevgeny Viktorovich (Prigozin).” Wagner Group is a Russian private military company. It is reportedly owned and financed by Prigozhin, which he routinely denies. Its operations are “deeply intertwined” with the Russian military and intelligence community, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). There was speculation that as the conflict continued and Russia suffered casualties, the group was turning to the prison community to bolster its forces. In the video, the man believed to be Prigozhin emphasizes the intensity of the conflict: “This war is cruel. It’s not like any of the Chechens.” Prisoners tell of strict conditions – drugs and alcohol are prohibited, as is intercourse with “local women, flora, fauna, men – anyone”.

One of Putin’s closest friends appears to be on a desperate recruiting spree

          Dominic Waghorn

International Affairs Editor @DominicWaghorn Russia desperately needs more troops in Ukraine having lost between 60,000 and 80,000 soldiers to death or injury. Vladimir Putin could solve this problem overnight by ordering a full mobilization, but that would make it clear that Russia is waging a war, not a special military operation, and could be politically disastrous for him if it continues to go badly. . His government is now scraping the barrel as it appears to be sending collaborators into prisons to try and find new recruits. Yevgeny Prigozhin always denied membership in the shadowy Wagner mercenary group. He is nicknamed Putin’s chef because he started out as a caterer in the Kremlin. Yet here he is openly representing the team in what appears to be a desperate recruitment effort. As one of Putin’s closest friends, he knows the importance of getting new troops from Russia to send to Ukraine. But he is surprisingly candid about the situation there, saying the war is even worse than the extremely brutal conflict Russia fought in Chechnya. It makes no attempt to sweeten the pill, but offers freedom to those who sign up as well as death to those who think twice when they get there. Only the most desperate of criminals would be likely to take up the offer, but those facing long terms in Russia’s notoriously bleak penal institutions may well be tempted. Men between the ages of 22 and 50 are eligible to apply. It appears this may be regardless of their sentence, as the man believed to be Prigozhin explains: “We are very careful with those who have been imprisoned for sexual abuse. But we understand that mistakes happen.” It’s not just Russian prisoners who could be fighting on the front lines. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on February 28 that “Ukrainians with real combat experience – will be released from custody and will be able to make amends for their guilt in the hottest spots of the war.” Does Yevgeny Prigozhin appear in the video? A screenshot of the man in the video has been run through a facial recognition program by open source analysts. It returned a match to the existing photos of Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the voice in the video also resembles the existing audio of his speech. The man in the video is also wearing two medals. One appears to be the Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest honorary title in Russia. Prigozhin had previously been photographed wearing this medal. Image: The medal worn by the man in the video appears to be the Hero of the Russian Federation, the country’s highest honorary title. Prigozhin had previously been photographed wearing a similar medal. The video has also been shared on pro-Wagner group Telegram channels, where it is described by supporters as showing Yevgeny Prigozhin recruiting for the war. Which became; Sky News has geolocated the video to Yoshkar-Ola, Russia. A typical church and chimney in the video can be combined with satellite images. The video appeared and was reposted on Russian Telegram channels on September 14. Sky News was unable to independently verify the date or time the video was filmed. The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to delivering transparent journalism from Sky News. We collect, analyze and visualize data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite imagery, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while showing how our journalism is done. Why data journalism matters to Sky News