The Wagner Group, a private Russian paramilitary organization, has come under fire in recent months for its practice of recruiting prisoners. Now, a man who was trained by the group has shared his experience of being sent to the battlefield with little training and no expectation of survival.
The man, a 48-year-old Russian inmate, was captured by Ukrainian soldiers in March. He told The Wall Street Journal that the Wagner Group only gave him three weeks of training and didn’t expect him to survive his first mission. The man, who had convictions for murder and robbery, said he was only trained in one skill—how to crawl in a forest—which indicated to him that he was not expected to live very long on the battlefield.
On January 29, two squads of six convicts were ordered to assault a Ukrainian outpost in Bakhmut. The city of Bakhmut in Eastern Ukraine has been the site of some of the most deadly fighting in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. A retired US Marine estimated that the average life expectancy of a soldier on the front lines in eastern Ukraine is around four hours.
The man said that only four of the men were “combat fit” by the end of the night while the rest were dead or injured. He was given permission to pull back the following morning due to injuries to his arm. He said that soldiers who were injured still had to be allowed by superiors to withdraw, and those who didn’t follow orders were “nullified”—a Wagner term for being executed on the spot.
The man said that Wagner did not provide his detail with food, so the troops had to scavenge for their meals. He was captured by Ukrainian forces after he stumbled into an outpost while lost.
The Wagner Group earlier this month said it ended the practice of recruiting prisoners. However, the man’s story paints a harrowing picture of the organization’s actions and the harsh conditions those recruited have to face. It remains to be seen if the Wagner Group will be held accountable for its actions.
