Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin March 10 announcedthat mercenary recruitment centers opened in 42 Russian cities. A list of addresses where these centers are located was attached to the message published by the press service of the Concord company owned by Prigozhin.
Taiga.Info journalists checked six addresses in Siberia and found out that “Wagner PMC centers” are located on the premises of schools and sports clubs, where children go, too. So, in Omsk, the “Wagner PMC center” is located in the “Orthodox sports and patriotic club” “Paratrooper”, which occupies premises in the gymnasium No. 147. In Barnaul, the recruitment center is also located in the municipal children’s educational institution – in the branch of the sports school of the Olympic reserve No. 3 (SShOR No. 3), and in Irkutsk – in the sports club “Profi” in the federal institution “State School of the Olympic Reserve of Irkutsk”.
In Krasnoyarsk and Chita, judging by the list of addresses, “Wagner PMC centers” are located in sports clubs where there are groups for children, Taiga.Info writes, recalling that mercenarism is officially prohibited by Russian laws.
PMC Wagner previously engaged in the recruitment of convicts in places of deprivation of liberty. Those who chose to become mercenaries were reportedly granted pardons by secret presidential decrees. In early February, Prigozhin announced that the Wagner PMC was no longer recruiting prisoners, and in early March he announced that his “private military company” would work with sports clubs to recruit new fighters.
PMC Wagner, in particular, is involved in the battles for Bakhmut. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation calls mercenaries “assault detachments of volunteers” in their reports. Prigozhin publicly criticizes the Russian Defense Ministry, stating that Wagner PMCs are not supplying the shells needed for the offensive
