Independent news outlet Mediazona reported on Monday (April 17) that the number of prisoners in penal colonies across 35 Russian regions decreased by 17,248 last year. 

According to Mediazona, the drop was likely the result of the recruitment of prisoners for the Wagner mercenary group.

As the Mediazona report only counted prisoner numbers in under half of Russia’s regions, the nationwide figures could be much higher.

Mercenary company Wagner last year reportedly recruited thousands of prisoners from Russian prisons to help the Kremlin solve the country’s manpower problems in Ukraine.  In exchange for a six-month contract, prisoners were offered a pardon.

There are no official figures for how many inmates signed up to join Wagner.  

The largest regional “loss” revealed by Mediazona’s analysis was in Russia’s Samara region where the local prison population reportedly dropped by 2,723 in 2022.

This change, according to Mediazona, contradicts the existing dynamics in prison population numbers.

In 2021, the year prior to the start of Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, the number of prisoners in Samara region grew by more than 300 people, according to Mediazona.

Mediazona says its findings are based on regional data released by Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (the agency stopped releasing nationwide data last year).

Mediazona is a Russian independent media outlet focused on Anti Putinist opposition that were founded by Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who are also co-founders of the protest group and band Pussy Riot. The outlet's editor-in-chief is Russian political journalist Sergey Smirnov.

Mediazona focuses on the judicial, law enforcement and penal system in Russia.  It works in partnership with Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova's advocacy group, Zona Prava (Zone of Law), which works to protect prisoners' rights.