Targeted advertisements of PMC "Wagner" surprise Sochi townspeople

Residents of Sochi, including those registered in other cities, have received targeted invitations to join the "Wagner" Private Military Company (PMC). It is not clear how the PMC had learned their names and addresses, Sochi residents have indicated.

In September 2022, leaflets appeared near Novocherkassk higher schools inviting to join the PMC "Wagner", the local branch of the "Yabloko" Party has informed. According to local residents, similar ads were placed in streets of Rostov-on-Don and Bataysk.

On May 8, Victor, a 39-year-old Sochi resident, found an envelope with his name and address in his mailbox. Enclosed was an invitation to "get a job at the PMC 'Wagner'." According to Victor, he was "shocked" by the targeted invitation, since according to his passport he is a resident of Irkutsk, where he is registered, and he bought an apartment in Sochi five years ago.

Vadim Krasilnikov, a lawyer, said that the spread of unwanted commercial correspondence can be qualified by the law as illegal advertising.

"The company can be brought to responsibility, which may assume fines, administrative penalties or criminal prosecution, depending on the gravity of the offence and the harm caused to recipients of the disseminated ads," Mr Krasilnikov has explained.