Wagner Group mercenary who previously fought in Syria and was convicted for drug trafficking gets pardon for fighting in Ukraine

Over 100 fighters of private military company (PMC) Wagner, who had been previously recruited in Russian prisons, have returned to Russia from Ukraine, RT reports. 

These convicts have finished their half-year contract. For fighting in the war in Ukraine, they have received pardons and medals For Courage, Russian news agency RIA FAN writes. 

Media outlet Agentstvo was able to identify one of the fighters — Vladislav Globa from the city of Tver.

In 2020, a Nizhny Novgorod District Court sentenced Vladislav and his wife Aisha Rizva kyzy Globa to five years in a strict regime colony over charges of cannabis trade as part of a group of individuals and in significant amounts. 

“From the age of 18, he served in the army under contract, then went on a mission to Syria, took part in combat, then he left the army, worked as a volunteer, then in a [supermarket], was engaged in construction, worked as a finisher. Lately, his salary was about 25,000 rubles [€350],” the judicial act on Vladislav reads.

It is noted that the family was in a difficult financial situation, “still, they wanted to help their relatives and grandmother who is very ill”. This is why Vladislav and his wife became drug mules and sold cannabis. The court considered Globa’s participation in combat a mitigating circumstance.