Russian military authorities have begun issuing official veteran certificates to members of the notorious Wagner Group, a private military company operating outside the law. This decision applies even to the thousands of ex-convicts recruited from prisons across the country, some of whom committed heinous crimes like rape, murder and assault. Many also suffer from severe viral infections like Hepatitis B, C, and HIV/AIDS.
These veteran certificates grant significant social benefits and state payments, effectively giving legitimacy to their dubious service, National Resistance Center of Ukraine reports. This comes after President Putin himself declared the need to regulate Wagner’s activities and restore rights to its members. This follows a failed coup attempt led by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
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The group’s personnel have been shuffled into various Storm Z units within the russian military. These units served as russia’s covert proxies in past conflicts, allowing them to participate without officially deploying regular troops. Some have even been deployed to Africa, where russia props up repressive regimes.
Read more: The russians Are Depriving Ukrainians in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of their Right to Medical Care
