“Prisoners or Your Children”
“Putin’s cook” defends the use of prisoners in the war
09/16/2022 02:07 am
Six months on the Ukrainian front, and then freedom – that’s what the head of the Wagner group promises to Russian prisoners. A video allegedly shows Yevgeny Prigozhin at a recruitment drive. The businessman, who has excellent contacts in the Kremlin, justifies his actions to the Russian media.
Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as the cook of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, has defended the use of prisoners in the war of aggression against Ukraine, according to Russian media. Those who do not want private military companies and prisoners to be used in the conflict should send their own children to the front, Russian media reported on Thursday, citing Prigozhin’s press service. “Either private military companies and prisoners or your children – decide for yourself,” he said.
The 61-year-old reacted as an “expert” to the publication of a video that is supposed to show him recruiting prisoners in a prison. According to the state agency Ria Novosti, Prigozhin’s company said the man in the video was “damn similar” to the businessman and was a good speaker. However, there was no direct confirmation of the clip that is considered genuine.
Prigozhin said that criminals could pay their “debt to their homeland” by fighting. The businessman is considered the financier of the right-wing extremist Russian mercenary group “Wagner”, which is internationally active in conflict areas such as Syria, Ukraine, Mali and Libya. The West has imposed sanctions on Prigozhin, who once met Putin as a cook. The US has offered a reward for his capture.
Reports have been circulating in Russia for weeks that Prigozhin is illegally recruiting prisoners in penal camps for the war in Ukraine – due to a lack of personnel at the front. In the video now distributed by Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny and the media, the man similar to Prigozhin promises the prisoners a pardon and freedom after six months of combat deployment in Ukraine. He also emphasizes that not everyone will survive. As an example, he said that out of 40 repeat offenders recruited in St. Petersburg, three died a “hero’s death.”