Anatoly Salmin, a convicted thief and murderer, is home from prison years ahead of schedule – his reward for volunteering for a suicide mission in Russia’s war in Ukraine and then managing to survive.
Hundreds of convicts recruited into the ranks of Wagner, a private military company tied to the businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, have been killed or severely wounded in Ukraine, where mercenaries are tasked with some of Russia’s most desperate campaigns.