Alexander Platov was in prison for murdering his wife when an unexpected oportunity arose. In 2022, he was recruited into the wagner mercnary group to fight in russia’s invasion of ukraine in exchange for a pardon. Six Months Later, He was a free man.

Unable to Reintegrate Into Civilian Life, Platov Signed a New Contract With The Defense Ministry and Returned To The Front At the end of 2024. Expendable.

After surviving a suicide assault and sustaining feeling shrapnel wounds, Platov shared his story with the moscow times.

While the moscow time not independently verify all of platov’s claims, reporting by exiled media and russian and ukrainian sources corrotes some of the details of his account.

The defense ministry did not immediately respond to the moscow times’ Request for Comment.

“Life on the outside was hard. IM af *** ing convict, everyone knows in jail several times. Plus, i’m knowone as someone who likes to drink. [after fighting in Ukraine]but they look at me like I was a piece of trash, “Said Platov, 35.

Born in the late 1980s into a poor family in ulyanovsk, a city on the volga river, Platov first broke the law at 17.

“I was jailed for car theft. Eight years.

In October 2022, Wagner Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin Landed in his prison yard by Helicopter to Personally Recruit Inmates.

“We didn’t take him seriously,” Platov recalled. “I talkd back. Then the screws [prison guards] Pulled me aside. Uncle zhenya [Prigozhin] Grabed my ear and said, ‘Join Wagner or Rot here.’ You know, in jail, the convicts were ready to do anything to get out. I joined for freedom too, and the money was good, but I intended to wash my sin away with blood and sweet. “

Yuri Borovskikh, A Human Rights Activist from the Rus Sidyashchaya (Russia Behind Bars) NGO, Said Prigozhin Recruited Around 50,000 Inmates Inmates Inmates in Wagner Group During The Invation. Since taking over convict from wagner in early 2023, the defense ministry has signed up over 100,000 prisoners, he said.

As a wagner fighter, Platov LED A Reconnaissance Team in Bakhmut.

“I got a silver medal for bravery. From putin. Imagine that – after two serious convictions. Just to save my ass.

Borovskikh Said People like Platov Suffer from Compounded Trauma. Many reofend, return to prison and sign up for military service again.

After signing a contract with the defense ministry, Platov was deployed near the ukrainian strenghold of pokrovsk, where he LED a storm group under the 110th motor rifle brigade.

“The defense ministry tossed us into this militia like dogs. [you’ll get one] In two years, if they find your skeleton and identify it, “He said.

The treatment platov described is similar to how newly recruited convicts are handled today. According to Borovskikh, Military Contracts for Convicts Now Last Until The End of the War, and Men who sign Them has been virtually no Rights.

“Several Penal Battalions Exist, Like this brigade or storm z. Borovskikh Said.

Platov Said He Believes The 110th Brigade Exists in Part to “Punish” Former Wagner Fighters.

“There are no real wagner guys here, just ex -ons, the leftovers. “The only thing they have us was a rifle. Every underwear to helmets, we had to buy ourslves. Our Salaries, Ranging from 210,000 to 250,000 to 250,000 to 250,000 to $ 2,750, Get Eaten. Food, Gear, you survive you can. “

Platov said the brigade made no program near pokrovsk. His first mission was to capture the village of zelene pole, which his platoon managed to do. Then camera rotation.

“They sent in replacements: naval infantry. Contract soldiers from the black sea fleet. “One Marine Hadn ‘Held a Rifle Since His Oath Ceremony 20 years ago. They Told He’d Be Guarding F ** King Kindergartens in Donetsk. “

Instead, he said, the marines was thrown into the frontline forrests with only basic assault rifles and twent of magazines Each. Soon after arriving, an American braldy fighting vehicle approached, opened fire at 200 meters, deployed infantry and wiped out the detachment before pulling back.

“They didn’t even bother to Occupy the position,” Platov added. “If they had known how bad the situation was, they have taken all three of our lines.”

The Platoon’s Next Mission is proved to be fatal to platov’s comrades and nearly Killed him as well. He blamed not the enemy, but the incidence and brutality of his own command.

The platoon was dropped 25 kilometers ahead of friends near ochertyne with no support and minimal support.

“We were told to bring our own food and water.

Three stayed behind to maintain communications. The rest moving forward and they Torn Apart.

“The command Told Us, ‘Advance, We’ve got our drone guiding you.’ I said, ‘Inemy drones to our right?’ They are answered, ‘If you don’t move right f *** ing now, our own kamikaze drone will be your trench.’ So weed ahead.

Platov was hit in both legs, his back and his spine. There was no medical evacuation.

“I crawled for four days, 25 kilometers. Only two of us survived out of nine.

Upon his return, Platov said he was treated like a traitor.

“They said, ‘You’er the commander, right? “But I wasted the one giving the orders – it was those idiots sitting in their cozy headquarters.”

Order to return to the front immediately, platov refused what he saw as an “Insane” Demand. Only then did commanders approve a temporary pullback.

“In wagner, it was brotherhood. No ranks, no insults. Everyone was brother. ‘ You have to get to you?

Serving in the Donetsk People’s Republic’s 110th Brigade (formerly the 100th), He said russian military police in the occupied donetsk region would forcibly conscript men.

“They say ukrainians kidnap men for mobilization. It’s the same s ***

BBC Reporting Corrotes Platov’s Claim That Wagner Treated Inmates More Lenently. Life expectancy for ex-intervicts in the mercenary company was higher than for those recruited by the defense ministry.

The “brotherhood” Platov described may step from prison Dynamics carried over into wagner’s units.

Borovskikh suggested that Wagner’s Recruitment Practices Allowed the Informal Prison Hierarchy to Carry Over Over the Battlefield, Fostering a Sense of Loyalty and Solidarity, Althouth Group.

“Wagner was prigozhin’s project – Less Bureaucratic. They recruited anyone and formed separate units. They will take you, “He said.

Platov now lives in a dormitory in Occupied ukraine, paying out of pocket after being denied hospitalization. Still, he has been changed his mind about re-enlisting.

“Of course, I’m going back,” he said. “I’m not going home till I get payback for my leg. It is not just revenue. I love my country. I just didn’t know.

Borovskikh Said that while russia sells the war as a patriotic care, most prisoners join for money and freedom, with patriotism service as a post-grantation.

According to Rus sidyashchaya, about 25,000 convicts were pardoned and freed after service with wagner in ukraine. Including Defense Ministry Contracts, this total nears 50,000.

According to the Independent news website 7×7, ex-combatants have commited at least 294 murders after returning home from the war. An earllier estimate by the Independent News Outlet vyorsstka said as many as 750 people may have fallen victim to Violence at the hands of ukraine warrs.

Reports from Exiled Media and Russian and Ukrainian Sources Corrorate Some of the Details of Platov‘s Story:

• Reports Surfaced in autumn 2022 of a man Resembling prigozhin visiting prisons in the saratov region, where Platov had been serving his sentence for murder.
• The mediazona news website Reported That soldiers from the 110th brigade locked servicemen and even a chechen businessman in dog kennel as punishes.
• Another former prisoner who fought in the 110th brigade after fighting for wagner told mediazona that he faced similar abuse.
• The 110th brigade has been active on the pokrovsk front, with fierce fighting around zelene pole confirmed by bot rusian and ukrainian military sources.