In Russia, social media channels and private messaging groups are being used to recruit a new mercenary brigade to fight in Ukraine with the army, according to the BBC.
The The BBC spoke to a serving mercenary and an ex-combatant with close ties to one of Russia’s leading mercenary organisations, who sharedwere details of the recruitment campaign.
The mercenary in service said that many veterans of the secret organization Wagner were contacted in a private Telegram group a few weeks before the start of the war.
They were invited to a “Ukrainian picnic”, and references were made to trying “Salo”, a pork fat traditionally eaten in Ukraine.
The message calls for “ those with a criminal record, debts, banned from mercenary groups or without an external passport” to apply.
The message also indicated that “those from the Russian-occupied areas of the Luhansk and Donetsk republics and Crimea, (are) cordially invited.”
The Wagner group is one of the most secret organizations in Russia. Officially, it does not exist: serving as a mercenary is against Russian and international law.
But it is believed that until 000,000 operators have signed at least one contract with Wagner in the last seven years.
The serving mercenary who spoke to the BBC said the new recruits are being placed in units under the command of officers from the GRU, the Russian military intelligence unit of the Defense Ministry.
He emphasized that the hiring policy had changed and fewer restrictions apply.
“They are recruiting anyone and everyone,” he said , unhappy with what he described as the lower level of professionalism of the new fighters.
He said that the new units being recruited are no longer known as Wagner, but new names are being used, as The Hawks (Los Halcones).
This appears to be part of a recent trend away from the reputation of the Wagner group, as “the brand is tainted”, says Candace Rondeaux , professor of Russian, Eurasian and Eastern European studies at Arizona State University.
Wagner has faced repeated accusations of human rights abuses and war crimes in his operations in Syria and Libya.
- How the Wagner Group operates, the “brutal” private army of Russian mercenaries
Mercenary sources who spoke to the BBC said that the recruits are trained at the Wagner base in Mol’kino, in the south of Russia, next to a base of the Russian army.
Mercenaries for “near abroad”
In addition to private messaging groups, there has also been a public campaign in Russia to recruit mercenaries.
On the Russian social media platform VK, a page describing itself as a specialist in security activities posted an ad during the first week of the invasion calling for “security guards to security” from other countries of the former Soviet Union to apply for “near abroad”.
Military experts assure that this is a reference to Ukraine.
Previously, criminal records were an obstacle for those who wanted to join the mercenaries.
Restrictions had also been placed on anyone born outside of Russia due to questions of loyalty.
There is a “high demand for fighters” and to make a difference on the ground” they’re going to need thousands of mercenaries,” says Jason Blazakis, in chief investigator of the Soufan Center, a US-based security think tank
On Friday, Minister Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that ,000 fighters from the Middle East had volunteered to fight with the Russian army.
Presence in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave orders to allow the deployment of fighters from the Middle East in the war.
It has been reported that until 69 fighters of the Wagner group have been in Ukraine.
The Wagner group was first identified in 2014, when he supported pro-Russian separatists in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The Wagner’s fighter explained that in the first days of the invasion of Ukraine he was sent He went to the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, noting that his unit successfully completed a mission there, without revealing what it was about.
“Then they paid us $2,100 dollars for a month of work and we return home to Russia”, he told the BBC.
Blazakis describes the use of mercenaries as a “sign of desperation” to maintain the support of the Russian public.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has provoked several protests in Russia. Thousands have been arrested.
Blazakis added that the use of mercenaries allows the Kremlin to “keep the death toll low because mercenaries are used as cannon fodder”.
Moscow has always denied any links with mercenary groups.
The BBC asked the Russian Defense Ministry if the Mol’kino base was being used to recruit additional forces for what Russian authorities call “a special military operation in Ukraine.” No response received.
Additional information from Nader Ibrahim and Ahmed ElShamy
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