"Will Pay 4.2 Million Won Monthly"...Desperate Russia Recruiting Mercenaries via SNS

Produced in over 10 languages including Vietnamese and Spanish
50,000 mercenaries deployed in the Ukraine war... including prisoners

The Russian private military company 'Wagner Group' has posted recruitment advertisements on social networking services (SNS). This appears to be a desperate measure to replenish combat personnel lost on the Ukrainian front.

According to the U.S. media outlet Politico on the 31st of last month (local time), the Wagner Group posted large-scale job advertisements on SNS platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. This information was first obtained by the British intelligence analysis company 'Logically.'

According to Logically's analysis, the Wagner Group is currently recruiting medical personnel, drone operators, psychologists, and others. The recruitment ads were produced in more than 10 languages, including French, Vietnamese, and Spanish.

The ads seek personnel for combat, information technology (IT), and medical positions, and include contact information and a Telegram (a Russia-based closed SNS) account. Detailed welfare benefits such as a monthly salary of 240,000 rubles (approximately 4.2 million won) and health insurance were also introduced.

Mercenary recruitment advertisement posted on social networking service (SNS)
[Image source=Twitter]

Regarding this, Kyle Walter, a researcher at Logically, told the media, "The ads use the same language and expressions as posts found on Russian SNS platforms like VK or Telegram," adding, "Western officials have confirmed that at least two of the contact numbers listed in the recruitment ads directly connect to the Wagner Group or Russian intelligence agencies."

This is not the first time the Wagner Group has recruited personnel externally. In mid-last year, they recruited combat personnel from prisons across Russia, offering "pardon and freedom if they fight in the war for six months and return."

The Wagner Group's personnel losses are enormous. Approximately 50,000 mercenaries were deployed in the Ukraine war, of whom about 40,000 were mercenaries recruited from prisoners in prisons. It is also known that among the recruited personnel were prisoners who had committed serious crimes such as murder and sexual assault.

Meanwhile, the Wagner Group was co-founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's close associates, and Dmitry Utkin, a former commander of the Russian special forces 'Spetsnaz.'

It is known as a group that secured considerable influence within Russia by handling support operations for the Russian military during last year's Russia-Ukraine war. The United States and other Western countries currently designate the Wagner Group as a multinational criminal organization.