1 of 1 Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Mercenary Group — Photo: Getty Images via BBC Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Mercenary Group — Photo: Getty Images via BBC
Russian lawmakers on Tuesday passed legislation offering up to 15 years in prison for anyone who criticizes mercenaries fighting the war in Ukraine, such as the Wagner group.
“Everyone who is risking their lives today to ensure the security of the country and citizens will be protected from provocation and lies by the new law,” said Duma (lower house of parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
The law was passed despite the fact that it is illegal to serve as a mercenary in Russia. The term used in the bill is “volunteers”. The project should pass the upper house of parliament without major difficulty and then receive Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signature to become law.
Prigozhin’s demand
The text corresponds to a requirement of the head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. In January he asked Parliament to stop negative media coverage of his “volunteers”. Volodin stated at the time that he supported the idea.
The Wagner group has close ties to the Kremlin and has recruited thousands of mercenaries from Russian prisons. The group is leading the charge in Bakhmut, the current epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The Wagner Group, which operates locally with great autonomy, has maintained tense relations with the Russian Ministry of Defense in recent weeks, which it accuses of incompetence or even treason due to a lack of artillery ammunition supplies.
Since the military’s “defamation” laws were passed at the start of the war in Ukraine, more than 5,800 people have been accused of discrediting the armed forces, according to a poll by human rights organization OVDInfo.