Jailed Putin critic Alexey Navalny says recruiting prisoners as mercenaries for war in Ukraine makes him question if the Russian army even exists anymore

Imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny questioned the state of the Russian military as he offered his thoughts on a video that appeared to show an ally of Putin trying to recruit prisoners.

Navalny said in a statement that he too would like to give his opinion on the issue. The first thought that any convict had when they saw the video was "Dear God, if they are recruiting us for the war, then what is the state of the regular Russian army?" Is it still alive?

The outside world has been able to communicate with Navalny through his lawyers. The Russian opposition leader has complained that his legal team is not allowed to see him.

Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent.

After being treated in Germany, Navalny returned to Moscow and was arrested on charges widely decried as politically motivated. Earlier this year, he had more time added to his sentence due to his anti-corruption work.

Navalny called on Russians to stage mass protests against the war.

The Russian military has suffered a lot of losses in the war. According to Western intelligence, theWagner Group, which has close ties to the Kremlin, may try to recruit prisoners to fight in the war as Russia struggles with manpower issues.

The head of the mercenary group in the war was said to have told Russian prisoners they would be pardoned if they fought for him.

A US official told reporters on Monday that many Russians are rejecting the offer. The official said that the information they have shows that Wagner has been losing a lot of money in Ukraine.