More than 30,000 former prisoners who, in the ranks of the private military company (PMC) Wagner, took part in the military operation in Ukraine, returned home when their contracts ended. This was announced on Sunday, June 18 by PMC founder Evgeny Prigozhin.
“As of June 18, 2023, 32,000 people from among those previously convicted and who participated in the SVO in the territory of the LPR and the DPR in the ranks of the Wagner PMC returned home at the end of the contract,” said Prigozhin, whose statement son its press service on its telegram channel.
According to him, 83 of the “total number of those who left” committed new crimes after the end of the contract and the pardon.
Since the summer of 2022, reports began to appear in social networks and the media about the recruitment of prisoners to participate in hostilities in Ukraine. In particular, Yevgeny Prigozhin dealt with it personally, promising forgiveness to the convicts. In January 2023, the founder of the PMC announced the removal of the criminal records of the first group of former prisoners who took part in the fighting in Ukraine.
Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said the pardoning of prisoners who took part in the military operation is taking place “in strict accordance with Russian law”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with war correspondents on June 13 confirmed who signs pardon decrees for prisoners sent to war zones.
“A person is fighting – honor and praise to him, the state must do everything to fulfill its obligations to these people, and we are doing it. <…> I sign pardon decrees,” the head of state said.
Putin also cited data showing that the recidivism rate among those who were released from prison and participated in the military operation is 0.4%. According to the president, “in general, the relapse, if you don’t take a special military operation, nothing, just a relapse among people who have served their sentence, have returned to normal life, in some cases it reaches 40%.
Human Rights Council (HRC) member Eva Merkacheva argued that prisoner pardon decrees are signed before they are taken out of the settlement to the war zone.
Read the Latest Ukraine War News on The Eastern Herald.
