Russia's Wagner mercenary group have been trying to recruit in Moscow high schools, distributing questionnaires and collecting contact details of interested pupils who might want to become "young warriors," says the British Ministry of Defence.
Wagner is also reportedly recruiting in dozens of sports centres across Russia. In its latest intelligence update, the MoD says that Wager Group's owner Yevgeny Prigozhin has "likely lost access to recruiting in Russian prisons," because of ongoing disputed with the Kremlin's military leadership.
Wagner had been promising pardons to prisoners who signed up to fight in Ukraine, but the UK MoD says about half of those prisoners already deployed "have likely become casualties." "The new initiatives are unlikely to make up for the loss of the convict recruit pipeline," the MoD concludes.Meanwhile Russia's offensive to capture the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut offensive appears to have stalled.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said there were no recent confirmed advances by Russian forces, amid gritty fighting over the eastern Ukrainian city.