Yes, no doubt: the 'mass' of Rosgvadria are 'de-facto police'.

Yes, several units have refused deployment to Ukraine.

Yes, no doubt: the 'mass' of Rosgvadria are 'de-facto police'. Little training, even if good equipment, but mostly serving as guards.

Yes, several units have refused deployment to Ukraine.

But, doesn't mean it's not serving as a pool for recruiting additional troops; it doesn't mean it has no major units (see the Dzerzhinsky Spetsnaz Division, see the 141th Special Motorised Regiment....arguably, cut by half due to Chechen losses in assault on Kyiv), and it doesn't mean it has no troops in Ukraine.

Re. Wagner 'recruiting in prisons': yup, have seen several related vidoes.

BTW, PMCs aren't 'really prohibited' in Russia. It's rather so that the MOD ('Keystone Cops in Moscow') opposed their legitimisation for years. Therefore, the Duma never brought a related legislation.

Problem: as a Russian, you are supposed to know about 1,793 times better than me, that Duma doesn't matter. What matters in Russia is Putin and his 'shareholders': like the IRGC in Iran, they're (figuratively) 'acting in the name of God' and above all laws.

Thus, whether Duma has legalised the PMCs or not - simply doesn't matter.

What did matter was that for years there were major differences between Shoygu and Prigozhin (probably the latter didn't let Shoygu have his share of income frmo that gold mine in the CAR, or something like that).

....between others, this was the primary factor even Putin's media never mentioned any of PMCs in the public, and why there was no Wagner around Ukraine in the first 2-3 months of war (only Redut/Redut-Antiterror was around, though then disguised as VDV).

In April, these differences have been solved: ever since, the PMCs are subjected to the control of the MOD.... and both Wagner, and Redut, and Turan are flourishing. Indeed, Wagner is nowadays regularly mentioned (and praised) by Putin's media.