Wagner chief says he's turning Russian convict fighters destined for Ukraine into 'cannibals' - Fox News

Wagner main Yevgeny Prigozhin championed the grooming efforts of his newest recruits swept from Russia’s penal strategy and slotted for deployment connected Ukraine’s beforehand lines and said they volition "will marque existent cannibals."

The word is not meant arsenic a literal interpretation, explained Russia adept and former Defense Intelligence Agency quality serviceman for Russian Doctrine & Strategy Rebekah Koffler.

The look is intended arsenic mode for Prigozhin to assertion helium is turning his convicts into warring machines arsenic they hole for the warfront successful Ukraine. 

A antheral places flowers astatine the coffin during the ceremonial of Dmitry Menshikov, a mercenary for the backstage Russian subject institution Wagner Group, killed during the subject struggle successful Ukraine, successful the Alley of Heroes astatine a cemetery successful Saint Petersburg, Russia December 24, 2022.  (REUTERS/Igor Russak)

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In a video shared by the Daily Mail Tuesday, Prigozhin spoke arsenic Wagner forces trained down him and said, "This is simply a supplementary grooming basal for our fighters."

"The superior grooming is successful Molkino and present experienced fighters are fixed further grooming successful their specialties," helium said successful notation to wherever Wagner’s main basal successful Russia is located. "Here they marque existent cannibals."

Wagner began offering Russian convicts a accidental to combat successful Ukraine and successful speech unafraid their merchandise from situation — nary substance the charge.

Wagner Group caput Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the ceremonial of Dmitry Menshikov, a combatant of the Wagner radical who died during a peculiar cognition successful Ukraine, astatine the Beloostrovskoye cemetery extracurricular St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022.  (AP Photo)

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So agelong arsenic a convict tin past connected the beforehand lines for a six-month stint, they tin instrumentality location without fulfilling their afloat situation term. 

Though Wagner forces person ammunitions and instrumentality from the Russian defence ministry they bash not enactment with oregon relation arsenic a portion of the Russian subject forces.

Prigozhin, a Putin ally, has concentrated his forces successful the astir harshly fought implicit regions successful Ukraine similar Donetsk and claimed caller victories for Russia were down to his forces, not Russia’s military. 

People successful subject uniform, claimed to beryllium soldiers of Russian mercenary radical Wagner and its caput Yevgeny Prigozhin, airs for a representation believed to beryllium successful a brackish excavation successful Soledar successful the Donetsk region, Ukraine, successful this handout representation released January 10, 2023. 

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Though the Russian subject has sought to region itself from the brutal mercenary group it claimed earlier this period that Russian subject units and Wagner Forces worked arsenic successful a "heterogeneous" effort to unafraid the fiercely contested municipality of Soledar. 

The U.S. estimates that determination are some 50,000 hired soldiers successful Ukraine, astir 10,000 are believed to beryllium nonrecreational contractors portion 40,000 are convicts recruited to backfill flagging numbers connected the ground.