- Former prisoners pardoned after fighting with the Wagner Group in Ukraine have returned to Russia.
- Some, including those convicted of murder, are committing violent crimes again, per Russia's Verstka.
Criminals pardoned after fighting in Ukraine for Russia's Wagner mercenary group have started to commit new crimes, with Russian authorities trying to cover them up, according to a report.
Independent Russian outlet Verstka said it discovered recent cases against former Wagner fighters when it looked at court documents.
But it said that it also found attempts to cover them up.
According to Verstka, attempts were made to remove the names of the accused from court documents, and that information about those crimes had not been published on the websites of Russia's prosecutor's office or Ministry of Internal Affairs.
It also said it found cases of pardoned Wagner fighters having committed murder since returning to Russia, and that those men would still have been in prison for their previous crimes had they not been pardoned for serving in Ukraine.
CBS News reported last month on the case of a Russian man imprisoned for murder who was pardoned for fighting in Ukraine, and who was then arrested after stabbing an elderly woman to death after returning to his homeland.
Verstka also reported that, because they had been pardoned, the punishments these men receive this time around will not be as harsh as if their previous crimes were taken into account.
Prisoners were promised pardons in exchange for six months of service in Ukraine.
The outlet said there are no statistics for how many former Wagner fighters have committed crimes since they returned to Russia, but that court data suggests it is becoming a more frequent occurrence.
Wagner sent thousands of mercenaries and former prisoners to fight in Ukraine, where the group became infamous for its brutal tactics.
Wagner troops took part in some of Russia's bloodiest battles, and had a high death toll as a result. UK intelligence said in March that half of all Russian prisoners recruited to fight in Ukraine had likely been killed or wounded.
The UK Ministry of Defence warned in March that with a large number of pardoned prisoners due to return to Russia, there will be a "sudden influx of often violent offenders with recent and often traumatic combat experience."
This, it said, "will likely present a significant challenge for Russia's war-time society."
Wagner troops staged a mini mutiny last month, taking military headquarters in a key Russian city and started to march towards Moscow. But in the end the group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, agreed to go into exile in neighboring Belarus, with his men being given a choice: Join Russia's army, go into exile in Belarus, or go home.