MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images
- The Kremlin admitted on Friday that Putin is giving pardons to convicts who fight in Ukraine.
- Murderers and hit men have signed up, and would be released after fighting for just six months.
- Wagner Group's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was seen congratulating one newly-freed batch in January.
The Kremlin has finally admitted that President Vladimir Putin is pardoning Russian convicts who agree to fight for a notorious mercenary army in Ukraine.
This comes after months of battlefield setbacks and as the country relies more and more on mercenary fighters.
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the pardoning procedure is carried out according to Russian law, reported state-owned news agency TASS.