BY ANDRE POTEMKIN, FROM MOSCOW

THERE HAS been a large spike in the number of Russian men being sent to jail for long periods since PMC Wagner began recruiting from prisons to fill its ranks for the war in Ukraine.

“The courts are coming down hard on anyone that looks fit enough to fight,” according to a source close to the Kremlin. “Word has gone out that the boss (Putin) wants more criminals in the front line than conscripts. So the cops are working overtime, and the courts are filling the prisons with long sentences. And, remember, Russian prisons are designed to discourage crime.

“Anyway, once a new batch of prisoners have had a taste of Russian jail for long enough, Prigozhin and his Wagner boys arrive at the gates and make them an offer they can’t refuse.

“And when the prisoners have signed up and gone off to the war, the prison authorities send out for more bodies (sic) to fill their places.

“It takes the sting out of conscription, and save the Russian Government from having to give too many mothers and wives bad news.

“In fact it’s worked so well that now I hear that the Russian Army itself is thinking of offering the same deal to prisoners. In competition with the PMC Wagner people. If that happens, expect to see the courts running 24-hours a day to keep up.”