Businessman and founder of the private military company (PMC) “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin announced his intention to recruit 30,000 fighters by mid-May. His audio commentary is published on the Telegram channel of the press service (“Prigozhin’s Cap”).
According to Prigozhin, the Wagner PMC recruits an average of 500 to 800 people a day, but sometimes the number of volunteers reaches 1,200 a day.
“By mid-May, we expect the number of fighters in the units to increase by around 30,000,” he said.
A fine of up to 500,000 rubles for discrediting volunteer units participating in the SVO also applies to Wagner’s PMCs, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law punishing up to 7 years in prison for discrediting OSV members. The article on forgery in relation to the Russian Armed Forces now also applies to volunteers, with the maximum penalty of up to 15 years in a colony.
Yevgeny Prigozhin announcing plans to recruit 30,000 fighters for Wagner PMC by mid-May
