Prigozhin announced about 32,000 convicts who returned from the special operation zone

After the expiration of the contract with PMC Wagner, 32,000 previously convicted persons returned home from the zone of special military operation, said the founder of the military company Yevgeny Prigozhin. Businessman comment published in the Telegram channel of his press service.

“As of June 18, 2023, 32,000 people from among those previously convicted and who took part in the SVO on the territory of the LPR and DPR in the ranks of the Wagner PMC went home at the end of the contract,” Prigozhin said.

The head of the PMC also cited the statistics of crimes committed by former prisoners after returning from the special operation zone. So, now 83 crimes are known, they were committed by 0.25% of the total number of those who left. According to Prigozhin, this is 80 times less than that of convicts after they were released for the same period without signing a contract with a PMC.

In February, the businessman announced that the recruitment of prisoners to a private military company had been stopped. Then Prigogine stated that pardoned there were over 5,000 prisoners under contract with the organization. The fact that Wagner recruited prisoners became known in September 2022.

In early January, Prigozhin reported that some prisoners were pardoned after they took part in a special operation. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the procedure for pardoning convicts who participate in a special operation as part of the Wagner PMC is carried out strictly in accordance with Russian law.