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Dozens of Russian draftees were locked in a factory and forced to sign contracts with the Wagner Group at gunpoint, report says

Sophia Ankel   

Dozens of Russian draftees were locked in a factory and forced to sign contracts with the Wagner Group at gunpoint, report says
  • Dozens of Russian draftees were tricked into signing contracts with Wagner, Astra reported.
  • The group was brought to an old factory in Ukraine and held at gunpoint, the report said.

Dozens of Russian draftees said they were locked in a factory and forced to sign contracts with the Wagner Group at gunpoint, the independent Russia media outlet Astra reported on Tuesday.

Almost 200 draftees were unknowingly bussed from Russia to the Luhansk region in Ukraine in the middle of the night last week, the outlet reported, citing reviewed text and audio messages the soldiers sent to their family members.

The group of soldiers was then dumped in a railway car repair plant in Stakhanov, where they were held at gunpoint by officials who were "herding" them around, one of the draftees told his family, according to a translation by The Daily Beast.

"They're already herding us around at gunpoint, that's it, the turning of the screws has started," the soldier said. "Representatives of Wagner arrived with weapons, there are about 30 of them."

The group then forced soldiers to sign contracts with them, according to the outlet. It added that the Russians themselves said in conversations with their relatives that they were "sold to [Wagner]."

Insider was unable to independently verify whether a transaction actually took place.

"We don't have a choice," another soldier told a relative about signing the contract, according to the report. "Those who said 'no' – they've already been taken away and I don't know what is happening to them now. You see, they don't give a fuck, they'll kill us and dump us in the field and that's it."

Fifty-seven out of 170 draftees agreed to sign contracts with the paramilitary group, while the rest refused to sign and were transported elsewhere in Ukraine's Luhansk region, Astra reported.

All of their phones were confiscated and it is unclear where they are now, the outlet added.

Despite some internal conflict, the Wagner Group has been working closely with Russia since the start of its invasion of Ukraine last year.

The Wagner Group, which is seen as a de-facto private military service for the Kremlin, has been heavily involved in Russia's attempt to capture the embattled Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, deploying tens of thousands of fighters there.

Some of its fighters are professional contract soldiers while many others are convicted criminals.

But as the battle drags on, the private military has been struggling to recruit members, the Institute for the Study of War think tank said last month. This was due to what it described as "massive losses" among the ill-equipped, poorly trained convicts.

A spokesperson for Russia's Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.



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