- Russian prisoners have now turned on the Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, an activist said.
- Prigozhin, an ex-convict, was once popular among prisoners and recruited thousands to fight in Ukraine.
- SOme prisoners rioted in support of his short-lived mutiny and were disappointed he called it off.
Russian prisoners, many of whom rioted in support of the short-lived Wagner Group mutiny, have now turned on the group's leader, an activist said.
Olga Romanova, the head of the Russia Behind Bars prisoners' rights group, said that prisoners feel "depressed" and "apathetic" and view Yevgeny Prigozhin as a traitor.
Prigozhin launched a short-lived rebellion against Russian leadership last month but called off his men as they were marching to Moscow and agreed to go into exile in neighboring Belarus.
Romanova noted that the prisoners don't like losers and that the word "wool" is being used in reference to him, which is slang for "traitors" who collaborate with the authorities.
Prigozhin, who is an ex-convict himself, was once extremely popular among Russia's prison population, Romanova noted.
The Wagner Group recruited thousands of prisoners to fight in Ukraine in exchange for freedom after completing their service. A video even showed Prigozhin personally visiting prisons to appeal to the convicts.
Although Wagner never confirmed the number of prisoners they had recruited, the US intelligence community believed the group had deployed 40,000 convict fighters in Ukraine, per Reuters.
Following the failed rebellion, Reuters found that among the mutinying Wagner mercenaries were at least three convicted criminals freed to fight in Ukraine.
Wagner's recruitment drive was stopped by the Russian Ministry of Defense earlier this year amid Prigozhin's escalating public feud with government and military leadership.
Instead, the Ministry of Defense began recruiting convicts for its "Storm Z" stormtrooper battalions. But several of these soldiers appear to have quickly become disillusioned, with videos circulating showing them refusing to return to the frontlines due to poor conditions.
Prisoners in Moscow and Rostov prisons had rioted in support of the mutiny, but prison authorities supported these. Many of these prisoners were angry after Prigozhin halted the rebellion and made videos criticizing him, per Romanova.
Prigozhin criminal career began when he was 18, was caught stealing, and was given six months in prison.
After being freed, he joined a gang in 1980. He participated in a robbery spree around Leningrad before being caught choking a woman on the street while his accomplices stole the woman's jewelry. He was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment in a high-security penal colony and served 10 years.