First prisoners, then mercenaries – and now they are free

“After six months you go home and get a pardon. You have five minutes to decide.” That is what Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (61) said last September when he recruited prisoners for the war in Ukraine in prisons.

However, the recruitment of convicted criminals is said to have started in July, about seven months ago. The deal: Join the war in Ukraine for six months. If you survive, you will return to Russia a free man. “There is no way to go back to prison,” Prigozhin said.

“I love my family”

The first prisoners have now returned from the war, Sky News reports. It is said that only a few former prisoners are involved. The Russian non-governmental organization Russia Behind Bars estimates that about 200 recruits could return. In comparison, it is estimated that up to 50,000 prisoners went to war.

Despite the probably small number of returnees, there is a certain unrest in Russia. Because the crimes committed by most inmates are not petty crimes.

Journalists from the independent Russian media agency Verstka have identified a man as Kirill Neglin, who returned to Russia from the war in Ukraine in January. Neglin presents himself on social media with a baby and a woman, presumably his wife. The Russian writes: “I love my family.”

The prisoner beat his wife several times

However, court documents reveal what kind of man Kirill Neglin really is. Prior to joining the Wagner Group, he served a 12-year prison sentence for domestic violence. He had injured his wife so badly in two attacks that she had to be taken to hospital in life-threatening condition.

During the trial, Neglin’s wife reported that he had started drinking. In court, Kirill Neglin again threatened his wife with death. Later, another attack occurred, so severe that doctors were forced to remove the woman’s spleen.

Stanislav Bogdanov was also in prison until he accepted Wagner’s offer and went to war in Ukraine. Six months later, he’s back. He is now a free man.

Judge killers in freedom

Before going to war, Bogdanov was serving a 23-year prison sentence for “particularly brutal murder”. According to court records, he hit a judge more than 40 times with a metal hook. He then killed him by hitting a barbell on the judge’s head three times.

Both Kirill Neglin and Stanislav Bogdanov are now free men in Russia, despite the terrible crimes they committed before going to war.

Videos are available at Sky News showing decrees personally signed by Valdimir Putin (70) guaranteeing impunity to the fighters. However, the veracity of these documents could not be verified.

“No one asks the victims’ opinion”

Stanislav Bogdanov reported in an interview with the Russian news agency RIA FAN that Wagner had “given a second life” to him. Chief Prigozhin, for his part, declared: “You were a criminal, as they say, but now you are war heroes!”

Not everyone in Russia shares this opinion. A complaint was filed against the practice in the village of Shireken in southeastern Russia. “No one is asking for the opinions of the victims. We are shocked by the lawlessness that reigns here and believe it will have tragic consequences in the long run,” some residents said. (obf)

Source: Blick