Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has started recruiting military police in occupied Ukraine, according to online job advertisements posted by the private army and reports by independent media outlets.
In a post shared on the Russian social media website VKontakte, the private military company said it was looking to hire former law enforcement and special forces employees “with experience in detentions” for six-month contract work.
“The work will be interesting, you can be rest assured,” the job advertisement read, promising a generous monthly salary of 240,000 rubles ($2,900) as well as performance-based bonuses.
The independent news outlet Vyorstka said it contacted Wagner’s recruitment hotline by phone and inquired about the scope of the work.
“[Hirees will] make sure there are no thieves and looters, no beatings, drunkenness, and so on,” said a Wagner recruiter who identified himself by only his first name Denis.
He added that recruits will also be tasked with capturing and interrogating members of Ukrainian sabotage units.
“We’ll call it military police,” Vyorstka quoted Denis as saying.
When asked about the recruitment campaign’s progress, he said: “Russia is big, we get calls from all over the country, you wouldn’t believe it.”
In late May, Wagner withdrew its fighters from eastern Ukraine's Bakhmut, just days after the group's leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed full control of the war-ravaged city.
At the time, Prigozhin said his mercenaries would “receive new tasks” after regrouping.
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