The Wagner Groups leader founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has said Russia has pardoned more than 5,000 former criminals after finishing their contracts fighting.
, said Monday it expected Wagner to lose half of its prisoners in the coming weeks as their six-month contracts expire.
British intelligence has placed the number of fighters Wagner commands at 50,000 – around 10,000 professional soldiers and 40,000 former inmates. As Russia struggled during the early days of the war to recruit men, Wagner came to fill in the gaps by drawing troops out of prison cells. Prigozhin, after spending years in secrecy, stepped on the public scene in the summer and contrasted his fighters with the failing Russian Army.since become the central fighting force for the city of BakhmutWagner defectors and rights advocates have claimed the recruits are given just two weeks of training before being thrown into the battlefield.and gratingly push the front line closer to the enemy at the expense of their lives.
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