News Feed

UK intelligence: Wagner Group now prioritizes ‘numbers over experience or quality’ when recruiting troops

0 min read

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.

Avatar
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.

Read more
News Feed

The list includes Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine's defense minister and previously the longest-serving prime minister, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, Deputy Presidential Office head and ex-commander Pavlo Palisa, and Sergiy Kyslytsya, the first deputy foreign minister and one of Ukraine's key negotiators.

Show More