Russian Prisoners Turned Soldiers Could Become 'Politicians,' Official Says

A former Russian military commander and current politician believes former imprisoned mercenaries fighting against Ukraine can also become credible post-war legislators.

The comments were made by Andrey Gurulyov, currently a deputy of the 8th State Russian Duma, rhetorically asking "why former military become good politicians."

"People with a wide outlook and a very good education, and those who graduated as privates from the academy—this is their second specialty," Gurulyov said, according to Eastern European news outlet NEXTA. "Yes, they were prisoners, they were convicted under various articles and served their sentences. But they volunteered to defend their homeland in the Wagner PMC."

He continued, "So, let's be honest. Recently, they were prisoners but today they are heroes who risked their lives to defend their homeland."

The Wagner Group is headed by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has helmed fighters most recently focused on turning the war tide in Soledar in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Recently, the group has been at odds with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and army soldiers. Prigozhin has personally blamed the MoD for a stalled offensive in Bakhmut, which is less than 10 miles from Soledar.

His interest also lies in salt and gypsum mines in the Donetsk oblast. The U.S. has cast blame on him and his men for the exploitation of natural resources in other countries, including the Central African Republic, Mali and Sudan.

Gurulyov said in his comments, which could not be independently verified by Newsweek, that the Wagner Group has "a pretty brutal way of doing combat missions."

Ukrainian officials on Thursday said an unidentified number of Wagner fighters had been killed by mortars in Soledar, leading to retreat.

Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek that the Wagner Group remains "a major asset" to Russia, as many of the fighters are on release from prisons and motivated by rewards such as wealth.

The group also promotes a potentially hostile and unhealthy dichotomy among Russian fighters, he added, as Wagner intends to play a larger role politically while the mercenaries usurp direction from traditional Russian command.

"Some of the inmates fighting for Wagner are indeed fearless to the extent of complete craziness, but (I'm) not sure how important it is in modern warfare," said Troitskiy in regards to Gurulyov's comments. "In the meantime, their boss is looking to normalize them by asking Russia's leading universities to assign special quotas to Wagner veterans."

"It is becoming insane," he added, saying the Kremlin could grow quite unhappy with a shift in power away from Putin.

Politico reported that high-ranking U.S. officials are increasingly tracking the group's movements due to suspected launches of operations in Africa and Europe.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian MoD for comment.