Wagner Group announces new recruitment centers, with some reportedly located in schools

Wagner Group founder Evgeny Prigozhin announced on March 10 that new centers for recruiting mercenaries to his private military company have opened in 42 cities across Russia. The press service of Prigozhin’s company, Concord, published the announcement, with a list of addresses for the new recruitment centers attached.

Journalists with the online outlet Taiga.info checked out six locations in Siberia, and learned that “Wagner Group centers” are located on the grounds of schools and sports clubs attended by children. They found one recruitment center located on the grounds of a high school, and two more in Olympic training sports schools. Other Wagner recruitment centers were found in sports clubs that sponsor groups for children, reports Taiga.info, noting that mercenary activity is officially illegal in the Russian Federation.