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Russia pardons 5,000 ex-criminals after fighting in Ukraine, says Wagner founder

Russia pardons 5,000 ex-criminals after fighting in Ukraine, says Wagner founder

MOSCOW, March 25 (Reuters) – More than 5,000 ex-criminals have been pardoned after ending their contracts to fight for the Russian mercenary group Wagner in Ukraine, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday.

The Wagner group, originally made up of battle-hardened veterans of the Russian armed forces, assumed a much more prominent role in the Ukraine war after the Russian military suffered a series of humiliating defeats last year.

Prigozhin came out of the shadows and recruited thousands of men from prisons, offering them the chance for freedom in exchange for serving in some of the most dangerous battles in Ukraine.

“Currently, more than 5,000 people have been released on parole after completing their contracts with Wagner,” Prigozhin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, said in audio posted on Telegram.

Prigozhin claimed that only 0.31% of those pardoned after serving at Wagner had reoffended, a figure that, he maintained, was 10 to 20 times lower than standard indicators.

Prigozhin is the most powerful of a group of Putin allies who now control what are essentially private armies recruiting top military commanders, former spies and convicts.

Washington considers Prigozhin an oligarch and has sanctioned him for his attempts to interfere in US elections and for spreading Russian disinformation around the world.

Prigozhin, who served nine years in prison in Soviet times for robbery and other crimes before going into business in the 1990s, has admitted to interfering in US elections and has first acknowledged his role in Wagner’s founding. .

Wagner, who has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic and Mali, bills itself as the most battle-hardened mercenary group in the world.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge. Editing in Spanish by Javier Leira)

Source: Ambito

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