Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin boasted that he recruited 50,000 convicts to fill the ranks of his Wagner Group mercenary army, the bulk of its troops fighting in Ukraine. They were heavily involved in the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for Russia, one of Moscow’s few recent claims of success.

Wagner’s recruitment scheme, known as Project K, peaked in early 2023. Now British officials say the last of its convict-recruits will soon be released from their mandated service, adding that a “significant number” of the now-pardoned convicts likely will take up Wagner’s offer to continue with the private military company as professional contractors.

“The Russian (Ministry of Defense) has taken over Wagner’s prison recruitment pipeline,” U.K. military intelligence officials said Friday in their latest assessment of the battlefield.

The end of the Wagner Group prison recruiting program marks a waypoint in the history of the mercenary army and of Russia’s war in Ukraine. It gave Wagner sufficient manpower and combat training to challenge the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin, British officials said on Twitter.

“It also marks one of the bloodiest episodes in modern military history. Up to 20,000 convict-recruits were killed within a few months,” British officials said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.