The head of "Wagner" Prigozhin: the first group of former prisoners completed the contract in the SVO zoneKRASNODAR TERRITORY, January 5 — RIA Novosti.
The first group of former prisoners who participated in a special military operation in Ukraine completed a six-month contract and received a pardon, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group, told reporters.
"They have fulfilled their contract. They worked with honor, with dignity. First. We have worked as few people work in this world," he said.
As an example, Prigozhin cited a fighter with the call sign "GDR", who died during the storming of a Ukrainian stronghold near the Uglegorsk thermal power plant.
"Fifty-two years, thirty was served. He died heroically," explained the head of Wagner.
According to fellow soldiers of the fighter, he blew himself up together with Ukrainian militants in order not to be captured. It happened on July 13 — literally the day after their arrival at the front line.
"His rear was closed, there was nowhere to go. F-1 blew up. As far as I know, he took four people with him. Handsome," said one of the colleagues.
According to the Wagner group, there are two dozen former prisoners in the first group of pardoned. During the service, they received a salary, although less than the rest of the volunteers. The wounded are compensated.
According to Prigozhin, among these people there were many who ended up behind bars by accident or by virtue of character — they could not find themselves in a peaceful life and therefore fell into rejection.
"This is genetics. This is what you have in your body. A combination of hormones, brain convolutions and everything else. Go forward, do not be afraid of the enemy, look into his eyes and do not look away. Those who look away — maybe they are excellent computer scientists, excellent artists or doctors. And these are warriors. They were born warriors and saw that they were warriors. Today is a war, and they have to defend their home during the war," he believes.
Prigozhin noted that society has given these people a chance and should be grateful to them for fighting for national interests. Among these volunteers, he added, there were those who had two days to serve, but they still went to defend the country."
After the pardon, former prisoners can return to Wagner as ordinary volunteers. Many of them plan to do so.
"We want to return to finish what we started and continue to defend the motherland. Beat the Nazis, as our grandfathers did," one of them told RIA Novosti.
Russia has been conducting a military special operation in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Vladimir Putin called its task "to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." According to the President, the ultimate goal of the operation is the liberation of Donbass and the creation of conditions that guarantee the security of Russia itself.
