It's the fall of 2022 in a gritty Russian prison and a man is giving a speech in front of dozens,

if not hundreds of convicts serving long sentences.

He's dressed in military green and he's a face like a Harry Potter

villain and he's saying things that seem like they only happen in double digit

Fast and Furious sequels. He's got an offer for these convicts, one that's going to put them on the world stage.

Quote, in six months you'll go home having received a pardon.

Those who come with us and on the first day say,

I ended up somewhere I shouldn't have,

we'll mark a deserter and execute.

You have five minutes to decide.

That man is the Afghani Progrosion,

a former prisoner himself, turned

Pudin's Katerr, who is now the head of Russia's Wagner group,

and he's recruiting for the war, giving the men a chance to leave prison if they fight in Ukraine.

And Ukraine's not the only Pase-Pregosian has Wagner men stationed.

They're in the Middle East and Libya and Syria. They're all over Africa.

They're mercenaries, sort of. The truth is they're not really that far removed from the

Russian state. They're just a way for a tiny bit of plausible deniability to exist when they inevitably get caught committing war crimes

and exploiting resources all that sort of stuff.

In Progosian speech he also says that Wagner wants recruits under the age of 50.

But that doesn't stop a couple of middle-aged men from deciding to throw down.

And this is from Arrik Tolr's peace in Bellencat.

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