Russia is using social media and groups on private messaging apps to recruit a new brigade of mercenaries to fight in Ukraine alongside its army, the BBC has learned.
The BBC spoke with an active mercenary and a former combatant with close ties to one of Russia’s top mercenary organisations, who shared details about the recruitment drive.
A few weeks before the start of the war, the active mercenary told the BBC that many veterans of the secret Wagner organization were contacted in a private Telegram group. They were invited to a “picnic in Ukraine”, with references to tasting “Salo”, a pork fat traditionally consumed in that country.
The message appealed to “those with criminal records, debts, banned from mercenary groups or without an external passport” to apply. And he extends the call “to those in the Russian-occupied areas of the Lugansk and Donetsk republics and Crimea — cordially invited.”
The Wagner group is one of the most secretive organizations in Russia. Officially, he doesn’t exist — serving as a mercenary is against Russian and international law. But up to 10,000 agents are believed to have entered into at least one contract with the Wagner group in the last seven years.
The active mercenary who spoke to the BBC said new recruits were being integrated into units under the command of officers from the GRU, the military intelligence unit of the Russian Defense Ministry.
He pointed out that the recruitment policy has changed and fewer restrictions have been applied. “They’re recruiting anyone,” he said, expressing displeasure at what he described as the low professionalism of the new fighters.
According to the mercenary, the new units being recruited are no longer called Wagner, but new names — such as The Hawks.
The practice appears to be part of a recent trend to move away from the Wagner group’s reputation, as “the brand is tarnished,” says Candace Rondeaux, a professor of Russian, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies at Arizona State University in U.S.
The Wagner organization has faced repeated allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes in its operations in Syria and Libya.
Mercenaries who spoke to the BBC said the recruits are trained in the southern Russian town of Mol’kino, next to a military base.
In addition to private messaging groups, there was also a public campaign in Russia to recruit mercenaries.
On the Russian social network VK, a page that describes itself as an expert in security activities posted an ad during the first week of the invasion asking “security guards” from other countries in the former Soviet Union to apply for “near foreigners”. Military experts said this is a reference to Ukraine.
Previously, having a criminal record was a deterrent for those who wanted to act as mercenaries. Restrictions were also imposed on anyone born outside of Russia due to doubts about loyalty.
There’s a “high demand for fighters” and to make a difference on the ground “they’re going to need thousands of mercenaries,” says Jason Blazakis, a senior researcher at the Soufan Center, a US-based security think tank.
On Friday (10/3), Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that 16,000 fighters from the Middle East had volunteered to fight alongside the Russian army. Russian President Vladimir Putin has given orders for Middle Eastern fighters to be mobilized for the war.
Up to 400 fighters from the Wagner group would already be operating in Ukraine.
The Wagner group was first identified in 2014, when it supported pro-Russian separatists in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The active mercenary who spoke to the BBC explained that in the early days of the invasion of Ukraine, he was sent to the country’s second city, Kharkiv, where, he said, his unit successfully completed a mission, without revealing what it was.
“We were then paid $2,100 for a month’s work and we went back home to Russia,” he told the BBC.
According to Blazakis of the Soufan Centre, the use of mercenaries is a “sign of desperation” to maintain the support of the Russian population. The invasion of Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked several protests in the country. Thousands were arrested. Blazakis added that the use of mercenaries allows the Kremlin to “keep the death toll low because they are used as cannon fodder”.
Moscow has always denied any links to mercenary groups.
The BBC asked the Russian Defense Ministry whether the base at Mol’kino was being used to recruit additional forces for what Russian officials call “a special military operation in Ukraine”, but received no response as of this report.
