Wagner Advertises for Recruits on Facebook, Twitter

Job ads promise the chance to see the world
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 30, 2023 6:28 PM CDT
Wagner Advertises for Recruits on Facebook, Twitter
In this handout image taken from a video released by Prigozhin Press Service on Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, right, head of Wagner Group military company, visits a rear camp of a Wagner unit at an undisclosed location.   (Prigozhin Press Service via AP)

Having reportedly lost 20,000 fighters in the battle for one Ukrainian city, the Wagner Group has posted job ads on Facebook and Twitter to replenish its workforce—posts specifying that employment comes with health care. Researchers found 60 ads in dozens of languages seeking people to fill support positions such as medics, drone operators, and psychologists, Politico reports. They can't be positive that the mercenary employer placed the ads, but they said the wording matches exactly that used elsewhere from previously verified Wagner accounts. Logically, a disinformation research group in the UK, reported that the job ads garnered nearly 120,000 views over 10 months.

The ads provide details about fighting, IT, driving, and medical positions, as well as contact information. They list pay monthly pay at about $3,000. The calls to violence and to fight for Russia—"Join us now to defend Russia's honor and a multipolar world!"—surely violate the terms of service for Facebook and Twitter, per Politico, which notes that a request for comment brought an automated poop emoji from Twitter. A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Facebook, said, "We designated the Wagner Group as a dangerous organization, meaning it cannot have a presence on our platforms." The US has declared Wagner a transnational criminal organization.

When the research ended in May, Facebook had pulled 58 of the 60 ads pointed out by Politico; Meta said it takes down Wagner recruiting efforts when aware of them. Wagner's mercenaries are fighting in places other than Ukraine, and one ad in French promises "the opportunity to work all over the world." Another promises a chance to work with "a team focused on efficiency and winning." (More Wagner Group stories.)

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