The Russian mercenary company “Wagner” is allegedly trying to convince Ukrainians in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol to fight on the side of Russia, offering them a salary of almost 2,500 euros per month, CNN reports.

The mayor of Melitopol, occupied by Moscow, stated that the “Wagner” PMC unsuccessfully tried to recruit from among the city’s residents, despite increased efforts.

Ivan Fedorov, who is not in the city, told Ukrainian television that at the end of last week, the occupation authorities began using social networks to try to recruit residents to Wagner’s company of mercenaries.

“Of course, no one agrees,” Fedorov said. “The offers I make will be 200,000 rubles (about 2,500 euros) per month to those who are ready to go to Bakhmut as part of Wagner. But they did not recruit anyone from the local population into some volunteer battalion. They won’t recruit now either,” he said.

CNN was unable to verify such a recruitment drive, but Wagner’s group stepped up its recruitment efforts after suffering heavy losses around the town of Bakhmut and after ending recruitment from Russian prisons.

The commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that the situation around Bakhmut remains difficult, but Ukrainian troops are repelling all attempts by Russia to capture the city.

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