Wagner: We Aim to Increase Our Recruits by 30,000 by Mid-March

The founder of the Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, revealed the group's intention to recruit approximately 30,000 additional individuals by mid-May. In a voice message via Telegram, Prigozhin stated that the group’s recruitment centers, which he announced last week had opened in 42 Russian cities, are recruiting an average of 500 to 800 individuals daily. Prigozhin's forces have suffered heavy losses during the Russian operations to seize the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which has remained resilient since last summer, in the longest and deadliest battle of the ongoing war that has lasted for more than a year.