NOTE: This article is more than 3 months old and may be out of date due to recent events surrounding the Wagner Group
Wagner Group recruits through a network of Telegram, Whatsapp and VKontakte accounts. The majority of recruitment advertising occurs online, but an increasing amount of physical advertisements have appeared in Russia on billboards and buses.
On March 24th, Wagner Group announced the launch of a large recruiting campaign. A new update to Wagner Group’s website states that mobile recruitment centers will visit rural areas of Russia and that 300 routes spanning nearly 400,000 kilometers and 36,097 villages will be traveled.
The majority of earlier advertisements by Wagner Group in 2022 state that it recruits men between the ages of 24 and 50, with recruits between the ages of 22 and 24 considered based on prior military experience. Recruits over 50 are considered on a case by case basis. In late March 2023, this changed: the range of ages advertised on the website expanded to persons 21-60 years old. However, messaging still remains inconsistent, with some Wagner Group accounts continuing to post the age range of 24-50.
“Rise up Russian outback in defense of the motherland!” (Source: Wagner Group website)
Additionally, Wagner Group has opened 73 recruiting centers in sports clubs and gyms starting in late February 2023, lists of which were released on VKontakte in late March. One of these recruitment centers is located at the public reception office of Vasily Vlasov, a Russian politician and deputy of the Russian State Duma. The routes taken by mobile recruiters will also include multiple regional government offices as stops.
Who manages recruitment?
Wagner Group’s recruitment management is handled by regional recruiters. A list of phone numbers were published on its recruitment Telegram channel, which mostly connect to the Telegram accounts of these regional recruiters. These recruiters often have military backgrounds.
Andrey Bulgakov, a 60-year-old man who fought in Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014, manages recruitment in the Tomsk, Omsk, and Novosibirsk regions of Russia. Regional representatives often operate under aliases, and the regions they represent may differ. For example, Oleg Vladimirovich Milkov, who resides in the city of Kotlas, is a regional representative and recruiter in Arkhangelsk region. A Telegram account linked to a phone number provided for a recruiter in the Rostov-on-Don region has the username “Kotlas Vladimirov,” suggesting a connection between the two individuals. Milkov fought alongside members of the LPR Prizrak brigade in the Donbas in 2014.
Bulgakov in 2014 (Source: Andrey Bulgakov)
According to Wagner Group’s website, veterans who assist in recruitment are eligible for financial rewards. In February 2023, the phone numbers of regional representatives were changed from those provided earlier in October 2022, with the company claiming that it is currently expanding its recruitment staff.
CHOO Zvezda
A Wagner Group recruiting account on Telegram is named CHOO Zvezda, or private security company Zvezda. A company by the same name has posted multiple advertisements on Avatarom, a Russian job advertisement site for open positions as security guards. The ads were first posted two years ago, and advertise a position for an armed security guard in order to protect the “security of assets abroad.” The advertisements state that contracts can last between four and six months, and that prior experience in hot spots and work with the Ministry of Internal affairs is preferred. The office of reception is located in Krasnodar, where the main base of Wagner Group is also located. Salaries range between 90,000 and 150,000 rubles, the equivalent of $1150 to $1900. These terms are extremely similar to those offered by Wagner Group in its recent recruitment advertisements.
Base in Krasnodar
Regional representatives conduct preliminary interviews with prospective recruits. If recruits pass these interviews, they are instructed to travel to Wagner Group’s training base in Molkin, Krasnodar Krai. Wagner Group’s Telegram channel states that another interview will be conducted at the base. All contract signing occurs in Molkin.
Apart from phone numbers provided in Telegram, four phone numbers repeatedly appear in advertisements. These numbers are shown on the landing page of Wagner Group’s website and in video ads posted by Wagner. Telegram accounts linked to these phone numbers operate under various non-descriptive names such as Anatoliy, Mikhail, and Bavarian.
Wagner Group’s training base in Molkin, Krasnodar (Source: Google Earth)
Posts on Wagner Group’s VKontakte page state that recruits can choose whether they wish to fight in Ukraine or Africa. Contracts to fight in Ukraine last six months, where contracts to fight in Africa last between 9 to 14 months. Salaries start from 240,000 rubles, the equivalent of $3076. Many specialty roles are available, and the application process for these roles differs slightly. Medics are instructed to apply through a Telegram bot.
A blog page features a statement from a recruiter for Wagner Group recruiter, who provides their perspective on its operations:
“It is absolutely legal. The company does not violate any laws of the Russian Federation and has nothing to do with mercenary work, which journalists, who, to put it mildly, are not interested in the success of our homeland, are so fond of writing about. Military work in the interests of the Russian Federation is not mercenary activity. Moreover, if you have already participated in the SVO [Russian abbreviation for Special Military Operation, the term Russia uses for its invasion of Ukraine], but are dissatisfied with the attitude or incompetence of your commanders, terminated your contract or been considered a deserter, but are ready to work and want to make a real difference, get a job with the Company.”