Following Putin's message, NATO's secretary general said that the Russian President's mobilization of thousands of extra troops for the war in Ukraine will escalate the conflict and his threat to use nuclear weapons was "dangerous and reckless rhetoric.
At such a time, a video has emerged on social media which shows Yevgeny Prigozhin the head of mercenary outfit known as the Wagner Group talking to prisoners trying to recruit at least 50,000 convicts to fight in the war in Ukraine.
See the video here
According to the report in The Guardian, one of the inmates of a penal colony in the Tanbov region, 482 kilometres from capital Moscow said Prigozhin arrived in a chopper. "We couldn't believe our eyes that he would really come all the way to visit us. But there he was standing in front of us: Prigozhin, in the flesh, urging us to join the Wagner private military group and fight in Ukraine," he added.
Last week, a video of a man resembling Prigozhin went viral on social media. The New York Times carried a report on it, saying that the Wagner Group leader explained to Russian convicts how they could earn their freedom by fighting in Ukraine.
The Guardian report said 120 inmates signed up and are now fighting in Ukraine after one-week training.
All prisoners were promised a presidential pardon after six months and a salary of 100,000 rubles (1,400 pounds) a month, the report further said.
Prigozhin told the inmates that they were recruiting prisoners of all backgrounds, and these included serial killers "at least one cannibal", The Daily Beast said. Quoting an expert, the outlet claimed that Prigozhin has already sent more than 3,000 inmates to Ukraine.
The prison-enlistment trips started in at least June, the report further said.
