The Wagner group, a private military company often referred to as President Vladimir Putin’s private army, is recruiting Russian prisoners suffering from infectious diseases including HIV and hepatitis C for the Ukraine war, UK intelligence officials said.
More than 100 prisoners have been deployed with coloured bracelets marking their illnesses, a report in Express quoted Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence department as saying. It added that there is “growing indignation at this situation” among other soldiers.
In earlier conflicts, the Wagner group had maintained “relatively high recruitment standards” as many of its operators have previously served as professional soldiers, according to British defence ministry.
But the new admission of prisoners with illness reflects “an approach which now priorities numbers over experience or quality”, the ministry added.
“There’s a severe shortage of human beings, a severe shortage of troops,” CNN anchor Erin Burnett reportedly said.
For years, the Wagner group has been suspected of playing a role in realising Moscow’s overseas ambitions, with the Kremlin denying any links. The Wagner Group went to the region in 2014 to help pro-Russian separatists oust Ukrainian forces.
According to British military intelligence, 1,000 mercenaries are deployed in Ukraine. It has been active recently in Ukraine, Syria and African countries, and has repeatedly been accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.
However, some reports have suggested that the infected prisoners are on bad terms with the other Russian soldiers, even though they both fight beside each other.
The United Nations and the French government have accused Wagner mercenaries of crimes including rapes and robberies against civilians in the Central African Republic, a report in BBC said.
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