Wagner Group still not recruiting mercenaries following coup, Prigozhin says

The Wagner Group mercenary outfit is not lifting its suspension on recruitment.

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is currently leading the mercenaries as they seek an entry point into the ongoing Niger civil conflict, announced this week that recruitment is still closed.

“At the moment, the opening time of the recruitment centers has not yet been determined,” Prigozhin said in a message Monday, according to translations from the Moscow Times.

PRIGOZHIN CELEBRATES NIGER COUP, ACCUSES WEST OF FOISTING ITS RULES OF LIFE ON CITIZENS

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, looks out from a military vehicle on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023, leaving an area of the headquarters of the Southern Military District. (AP Photo)

The mercenary warlord continued, “We have no shortage of personnel for now, [so] we have no plans to recruit again.”

Recruitment was originally suspended following the failed coup launched against the Russian government last month.

PRIGOZHIN APPEARS PUBLICLY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MUTINY, SUGGESTS MERCENARIES WON’T FIGHT IN UKRAINE

Supporters of the coup set fire to the ruling party headquarters while hundreds of them gather in front of the National Assembly in the capital Niamey, Niger. (Reuters/Balima Boureima)

Since leaving Belarus, the Russian mercenary has made a pitch for Niger rebels to procure his services amid their ongoing coup attempt, promising to “destroy terrorists” and secure peace.

“The population suffers. And this is the (the reason for) love for PMC (private military company) Wagner, this is the high efficiency of PMC Wagner,” Prigozhin said of the civil unrest in Niger.

In this handout photo taken from video and released by Prigozhin Press Service Saturday, May 20, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group military company speaks holding a Russian national flag in front of his soldiers in Bakhmut, Ukraine. (Prigozhin Press Service via AP)

“Because a thousand soldiers of PMC Wagner are able to establish order and destroy terrorists, preventing them from harming the peaceful population of states,” Prigozhin pitched in the message.

Last month, a low-resolution video emerged showing Prigozhin in public for the first time since his short-lived mutiny.