More than 5,000 ex-criminals have been pardoned after completing their contracts to participate in the Russian mercenary group Wagner against Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

“So far, more than 5,000 people have been pardoned after their contracts with PMK Wagner ended,” Prigozhin, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, said in an audio recording posted on Telegram.

The standard contract for criminals recruited by “Wagner” is six months.

He also said that only 0.31 percent of those pardoned after Wagner’s service went on to commit crimes, a number he said was 10 to 20 times lower than the standard rate.

Prigozhin also has a criminal record, serving nine years in prison during the Soviet era for robbery and other crimes before going into business in the 1990s, Reuters reported.

The release of criminals who have served probation is an additional problem for Prigozhin, in addition to disputes with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the lack of military equipment, including the lack of ammunition, which he repeatedly complained about.

Wagner’s group is about to find itself in a difficult situation because, while it has suffered huge personnel losses, it will also be without a large portion of the prisoners recruited in the fall as they complete their six-month parole terms. The British Ministry of Defense explained on Tuesday.

“Although about half of the recruited captives are likely to have been killed or wounded, information from Russia indicates that the group is keeping its promise to release the survivors,” the quoted source said.

According to Western estimates, in the Bakhmut direction, where the main fighting force was represented by Wagner’s group, the losses of Russian servicemen currently amount to 20-30 thousand fighters.