Prisoners

One fighter recruited from prison blamed Russian media for misleading him.

The Wagner Group has previously been accused of recruiting prisoners to use along the front lines in Ukraine, despite the convicts' inadequate combat training.

The paramilitary unit is losing its influence in the war, along with its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin—But will Vladimir Putin snub the Wagner Group entirely?

Meanwhile, reports suggest the Wagner Group has not halted its hiring drive but is instead employing more predatory practices to gather convicts.

The paramilitary outfit is reportedly employing even more predatory recruitment practices in Russia's prisons amid struggles to find new recruits.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote in an update on Friday that Russia was moving forward with a "recruitment campaign among convicts."

Fratta, 65, is set to receive a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas on January 10.

Dmitry Karavaichik was handed a 17-year jail sentence in 2019 for producing and distributing amphetamine and served six months in Ukraine.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner Group founder, said the first batch of prisoners who fought in the war have received a pardon. "They worked with honor, with dignity."

Six members of the notorious Wagner Group, including a Belarusian national, reportedly escaped in December from a training center in Ukraine.

Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin told Newsweek that as many as 30,000 prisoners have been recruited and deployed to Ukraine.

Eighteen men were put to death in the U.S. this year, with more than half of them in Texas and Oklahoma.

Prisoners recruited by the Wagner Group are being used "as a meat shield," the National Resistance Center of Ukraine said.

Griner discussed a possible return to the WNBA and the release of American Paul Whelan in her first statement since returning home. Read it in full here.

"Up until the moment we actually secured the deal that got Brittney home, we were still trying to get Paul out," the National Security Council spokesperson said.

Steve Zissou insisted the exchange of Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner was fair.

In an interview with state-controlled RT, the arm dealer said he 'never understood' why Russia didn't move earlier into Ukraine.

Trump asked why Paul Whelan wasn't included in Thursday's prisoner swap with Russia, even though Trump was the president for half of Whelan's imprisonment.

Security experts told Newsweek that the prisoner swap signals that the U.S. and Russia is returning to Cold War-era patterns.

WNBA player Brittney Griner was freed from a Russian prison on Thursday after she was detained nine-plus months ago.

The Kremlin has long sought Viktor Bout's release, calling his sentencing in April 2012 "baseless and biased."

Ukrainian official Andriy Yermak said Saturday that "over the last week, we managed to return 98 Ukrainians. We are working on the release of all our people."

The prisoner was attempting to smuggle four mobile phones into the prison, and has refused surgery to get the final two removed.

Russian prisoners with diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C are being recruited as soldiers by the Wagner Group, Kyiv said.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov previously bragged about his teenage sons fighting on the frontlines of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The WNBA star's partner wrote on Instagram that she continues to "look forward to the day my wife is back home."

"It's either them or your children, decide for yourself," Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as "Putin's chef," said of prisoners he suggested fight in Ukraine.

John Basco, 48, made headlines around the world after he alleged the pop song was used to "torture" him during a previous stint in jail.

The Kremlin has long pushed for Bout's release, calling his detainment in the U.S. "unlawful."

Eduard Basurin from the Donetsk People's Republic told the Russia-1 channel that shooting foreign prisoners would help the countries they are from.