More than 5,000 former criminals have been pardoned after finishing their contracts to fight in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group against Ukraine, the founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Saturday.

Prigozhin said just 0.31% of those pardoned after Wagner service had gone on to commit crime, a figure he said was 10-20 times less than the standard indicators.

https://www.france24.com/en/russia/20230325-russia-pardons-over-5-000-convicts-after-fighting-in-ukraine-with-wagner-group