The founder of the Russian paramilitary formation, Wagner, announced information that more than 5.000 prisoners who were members of this organization had their contracts expired and had already been pardoned by the state.

Among other things, Prigozhin said that recruiting prisoners from Russian prisons in Wagner reduces crime by 10 to 20 times.

"At this point, the Wagner deal has expired for more than 5.000 prisoners and they have been pardoned. The percentage of people who commit a second crime within a month of completing their service is 0,31 percent. Therefore, I must say, we have reduced crime in Russia by ten times," Prigozhin said.

Earlier, Prigozhin explained that the contract with the prisoners was concluded for six months.

"There are no accurate estimates of the number of prisoners recruited by Wagner. However, since the beginning of 2022, the number of prisoners has decreased by 32 thousand people. In the fall of 2022, a sharp drop in the number of prisoners was observed," writes Kommersant.

In its latest analysis, the Institute for the Study of War reported that Wagner's first man, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had softened his rhetoric toward the Russian Defense Ministry "probably out of fear that it could be completely without its troops fighting in Bakhmut."

A few days ago, Prigozhin expressed concern about a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive in eastern Ukraine. He says Ukraine has 200.000 reservists preparing for an attack along the eastern front line. He also claims that the Ukrainians currently have 80.000 troops in Bakhmut, Slovyansk and Kostiantynivka to launch a counterattack.

American experts claim that Prigozhin is softening his rhetoric towards the Ministry of Defense