A Russian group of mercenaries is trying to recruit female prisoners as snipers in Ukraine, its founder has confirmed.
Yevgeny Prigozhin – the alleged leader of the Wagner Group, widely believed to be Vladimir Putin’s private army – wrote on social media that he hoped more women would be sent to fight in Ukraine.
He said: “Not only nurses and communications workers, but also sabotage groups and sniper pairs. Everyone knows this has been done before.
‘We come. There is some resistance, but I think we will overcome it.”
During World War II, female snipers were used and praised in Soviet propaganda.
According to a Russian official east of Moscow, women detained in the city of Nizhny Tagil have even asked to go to Ukraine to fight.
Male Russian convicts have already been sent to the front and authorities threaten them with long prison terms and beatings if they refuse to fight.
The total number of prisoners in Russia has fallen by 23,000 in just two months as Putin pushes for more prisoners to be sent to the front.
About 500 prisoners have died fighting in Ukraine after “volunteering” for freedom after the war.
A source said: “According to relatives, it is impossible to deny this, as the prisoners may disappear.”
Leaked footage also shows Prigozhin pardoning prisoners who volunteer to join the fight.
He told a large group of prisoners gathered in the yard of a prison in Yoshkar-Ola that if they survive six months at the front, they will be released.
“If you serve six months [in Wagner]”You’re free,” he said, adding, “If you arrive in Ukraine and decide it’s not for you, we’ll execute you.”
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Author: Brook Davies
Source: Metro.co
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