Of the 50,000 Russian prisoners recruited by the Wagner PPK to take part in the war in Ukraine, only 10,000 remained.
This was stated by the head of the charitable foundation “Rus Sitting” Olga Romanova.
According to our data, at the end of December, 42-43 thousand were recruited. [в’язнів]. Now they are most likely already over 50 thousand. Of them, 10 thousand are fighting at the front, because all the rest are either killed, or “300”, or missing, or deserted, or surrendered, – said Romanova of the project My Russian Rights.
According to her, the prisoners “with terrible force” began to desert from the CPP in the fall. Many of them, the head of the project notes, fled back to Russia with their weapons. For example, she cited a case that occurred in early December 2022 in the Rostov region. Then the former prisoner, who had deserted from the PIK, opened fire on the policemen, injuring one of them.
Romanova also suggested that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner PPK, who “promised ways to win the war,” does not keep statistics on missing or deserted prisoners, simply writing them all on the list of the dead. This, in particular, may be evidenced by reports that the VAT returns empty coffins to relatives of prisoners.
The recruitment of prisoners to Russian prisons to participate in the war in Ukraine became known in the summer of 2022. Prigozhin, the founder of PIK, personally visited some colonies for this purpose. This, in particular, was announced on December 21 by politician Alexei Navalny, who is serving a sentence in a strict regime colony in Vladimir.
In December, US National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said that the Wagner PPC in Ukraine could have reached 50,000 people. He also noted that 90% of the group may be former prisoners. In January, this information was partially confirmed by the British Ministry of Defense.
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Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.