The West is worried about possibly triggering World War III if it helps Ukraine too much. Meanwhile, Russia’s top mercenary is recruiting soldiers on the promise of World War III.

Yevgeny Prigozhin is the infamous leader of Russia’s Wagner Group, a private military company. In a recently released recruiting video, the accused murderer-for-hire is seen with a top Russian propagandist. Prigozhin tells potential recruits if they sign up as soldiers of fortune with Wagner, they’ll be “in good shape for the upcoming World War III.”

The recruitment of volunteers continues at Wagner PMC! Lots of work, hard work!

Key conditions:
• a contract with a salary of 240 thousand rubles. and good performance bonuses;
• health and life insurance, guarantee of all payments;
• provided with modern overalls equipment pic.twitter.com/E7IcD8XAsz

— Comrade Scott 'Z.O.V' 🇷🇺 (@schiedamseschot) February 26, 2023

Wagner mercenaries are fighting and dying by the thousands in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine. Wagner initially filled its ranks by recruiting from Russian prisons before changing tactics.

Before the war in Ukraine, it was estimated Wagner had around 5,000 fighters in its employ. Wagner never said exactly how many prisoners it had in its ranks, but the Russian penal service reported a drop in the prison population of 20,000 between August and November of 2022. In February 2023, Prigozhin said Wagner would no longer recruit from prisons.

Now Wagner is attracting fighters by offering glory on the battlefield, access to the most modern weapons, a salary of 240,000 rubles, and a guarantee to pay out health and life insurance benefits. Benefits which will no doubt be needed in an area dubbed “the meat grinder.”

In addition to its base contract, Wagner is also offering performance-based bonuses. It’s enough to make some full-time Russian soldiers want to ditch the professional army and join team mercenary.

In a video posted to telegram, a group of men claiming to be Russian soldiers say their regiment is in tatters, but there are 10 able-bodied men left ready to join Wagner.

On the surface, it may not seem like much. But make no mistake, professional Russian soldiers saying they want to leave the Russian Armed Forces and join up with a private military group will no doubt cause more tension in the relationship between Prigozhin and Russia’s top military commanders.

Reuters contributed to this report.