Russia’s Wagner group using drafted recruits as ‘fodder’ to protect experienced commanders, says MoD

Wagner operatives who deviate from assault routes likely being threatened with summary execution

Russia’s proxy military fighter group Wagner is using convict conscripts to shield its “rare assets” of experienced commanders and threatening those wishing to exit the war with execution, the British defence ministry said on Monday.

These officers commanding convict recruits themselves remain in hiding while issuing orders and watching them through drones, the ministry said in its latest intelligence update on the war in Ukraine.

“Russian military proxy group Wagner continues to take a major role in attritional combat around the Donetsk oblast town of Bakhmut. In recent months, it has developed offensive tactics to make use of the large number of poorly trained convicts it has recruited,” the ministry said.