According to the recent update by the U.K. Defense Ministry, Russian-backed private military company Wagner Group has previously “maintained relatively high recruitment standards, with many of its operators having previously served as professional Russian soldiers.”
However, the Wagner Group’s recruiting of Russian convicts suffering from severe diseases, including HIV and hepatitis, “highlights an approach that now prioritizes numbers over experience or quality,” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin's plan to construct a 200-kilometer anti-tank fortification in eastern Ukraine would require a large labor force.
“There is a realistic possibility that some of the convict recruits will initially be put to work constructing the defenses,” the ministry said.
