Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has halted its recruitment of prisoners to join the fight in Ukraine, the head of the notorious paramilitary outfit said Thursday. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s claims, which could not be immediately verified, follow independent media reports of Wagner resuming its prisoner recruitment process this winter as it takes heavy losses in Russia’s months-long assault on eastern Ukraine’s Bakhmut. Responding to a press inquiry claiming that Russian inmates have not been recruited into Wagner for more than a month, Prigozhin said: “The recruitment of prisoners in the Wagner PMC has completely stopped.” He did not provide an explanation for...