criminals recruited by the Wagner militia sow terror in the country

Russian criminals were recruited from prison to fight in Ukraine. They were enlisted for six months in the Wagner militia, against a promise: the erasure of their pain. Today, they are back in Russia, free, and some are spreading terror. On September 28, horror struck a town near Nijini Novgorod (Russia). In the early morning, a neighbor was alerted and a resident had just been murdered. In the rubble lies the body of Irina, a peaceful 68-year-old retiree, doused with gasoline in the middle of the night. She was burned alive on her birthday.

Passive authorities

The main suspect is his own brother. Convicted several times for murder, he was to serve 10 years in prison. But thanks to his time on the front, he was granted amnesty. “When we went to the police, they told us: ‘There are lots of Wagners, we don’t know what to do with them. (…) They come home and kill again.”testifies the victim’s daughter.

How many prisoners have been pardoned with honors? How many have reoffended? There are no official figures. But the teams of 20 Hours counted more than ten cases in the Russian press. Faced with this growing phenomenon, the authorities are often passive. The fall of Wagner did not put an end to these criminal pardons. According to Russian media, the official army is in turn recruiting in prisons.