Bait and Switch: Russian draftees captured in dead of night, 'sold as cattle' to Wagner Group
Troops were apparently promised that they would be sent to the Rostov region for training to serve in territorial defences, but instead were packed into cars and dumped last week at a railway car repair plant in Stakhanov
Representational image. AFP
New Delhi: Numerous Russian draftees claim to have been captured in the middle of the night on Russian soil and transported across the border to the Luhansk region of Ukraine, where they claim to have been imprisoned in an abandoned factory and “sold” like cattle to the Wagner Group, reported Astra.
In total, it is claimed that more than 100 draftees were recruited through the strange bait and switch, reported Astra, as it interviewed family members and looked into some of the men’s text and voice messages.
The report claims that the troops were apparently promised that they would be sent to the Rostov region for training to serve in territorial defences, but instead were packed into cars and dumped last week at a railway car repair plant in Stakhanov.
One soldier told his family by phone, “They’re already herding us around at gunpoint, that’s it, the turning of the screws has started. Representatives of Wagner arrived with weapons, there are about 30 of them,” reported Astra.
Another soldier told a relative that they don’t have a choice. Those who said no have already been taken away and it’s not known what is happening to them now. The soldier also claimed that Wagner doesn’t care. They will kill them and dump them in the field.
Some draftees were compelled to sign contracts with Wagner but were promised they would be forming their own private military squad nicknamed the “Wolves.”
According to Astra, 57 of the 170 draftees signed contracts with Wagner and left the facility, while 113 refused to sign and were later taken to other locations in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. Their phones were seized, and family members are unsure of what happened to them.
With inputs from agencies
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