a bonus of roughly similar sum, or 5 million rubles for an "honorable" death. Prigozhin told inmates that they would not be used as cannon fodder, saying the likelihood of death is 15%, based on an earlier "experimental" deployment of Saint Petersburg prison inmates. After the recruiters left, both prisons were cut off from the Zonatelecom system of communication, leaving the inmates only with illicit phones. Approximately 300–350 prison inmates signed up to fight in Ukraine by this point. In a prison recruitment speech video published on 14 September, Prigozhin said that prisoners have been participating in the invasion of Ukraine since 1 July. Ukrainian soldiers and former convicts prisoners of war described the use of recruited convicts as disposable. At the Battle of Bakhmut, the convicts were used as "bait", as poorly armed and briefly trained convicts were sent in human wave attacks to draw out and expose Ukrainian positions to attack by more experienced units or artillery. A Wagner Group deserter claimed the inmates were formed into assault groups that he described as "meat" and that 90% of them die in the fighting. Similarly, the United States government claimed that 90% of Wagner battlefield casualties are inmates. In late October, Wagner was also reported to be leading the recruitment of former members of the Afghan National Army Commando Corps, who were abandoned in Afghanistan during the United States withdrawal and fled to Iran. A Prigozhin spokesman denied the reports as "crazy nonsense". On 5 January 2023, the first group of 24 prisoners recruited by Wagner to fight in Ukraine finished their six-month contracts and were released with full amnesty for their past crimes. Yevgeny Prigozhin praised their efforts, stating that they should be treated with respect and advised them: "Don't drink a lot, don't use drugs, don't rape women, do not get up to no good". Battles of Bakhmut and Soledar On 15 August 2022, Ukraine claimed to have struck a building in Popasna being used as HQ by the Wagner Group with HIMARS artillery. Serhiy Hayday, the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk, said that the location was revealed by Russian journalist Sergei Sreda. The image posted online showed a sign giving a street in Popasna, Luhansk. A pro-Moscow blogger, called Kotenok, wrote on Telegram: "A strike was carried out on one of the Wagner PMC locations in Popasna. Sources in Donbas confirm that. Probably 'Himars'. Ukrainian sources report