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General Staff: Wagner Group recruiting incarcerated Ukrainian citizens for Russia's war

• 1 min read

The Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group is recruiting imprisoned Ukrainian citizens who were forcibly taken to Russian prisons, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported in its morning briefing.

The Wagner Group is Russia’s most high-profile mercenary group and was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian oligarch, confidant of President Vladimir Putin, and former convict.

"Russia is recruiting imprisoned citizens of Ukraine who were forcibly taken to Russian prisons. In particular, in Krasnodar, active recruitment of such persons is taking place in the private military company Wagner," the General Staff wrote.

According to the General Staff, those who are serving sentences for serious criminal offenses are most actively pursued to join in the war against Ukraine.

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The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

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The latest announcement comes as Kyiv experienced widespread power outages on Oct. 8 following a Russian attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Over 3 million residents in the capital lost power in what officials described as "an attack on one of the energy facilities important for the city of Kyiv."

The railway operator initially reported that the passenger train's driver suffered a leg injury and four passengers required medical attention. The crew of the electric locomotive was unharmed.

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