First group of Russian prisoners who fought in Ukraine with PMC Wagner granted amnesty

For the first time, a group of Russian prisoners that fought in the war against Ukraine as part of the Wagner private military company has been granted amnesty, the mercenary group’s founder, Evgeny Prigozhin, said on Thursday.

According to RIA Novosti, the group of now-freed prisoners contained about 20 people who served out six-month contracts. PMC Wagner has not released their names or the crimes they were convicted of.

RIA Novosti also published a video that showed Prigozhin shaking the hands of men in camouflage and congratulating them on “working off their contracts.”

“They worked off their contracts with honor, with dignity. [They were] some of the first… The first. They worked the way few people do… Society should treat them with the deepest respect, and they shouldn’t break the laws,” Prigozhin says in the clip.

When asked what they plan to do next, many of the mercenaries respond that they want to “go back” to the front, because “life is the continuation of work.”

At the end of the video, Prigozhin says to the former prisoners, some of whom can be seen with crutches and wheelchairs, “Don’t drink too much,” “Don’t use drugs,” “Don’t rape any women,” and “Don’t cause trouble.”