An organization helping homeless people in St. Petersburg, Russia, has sounded the alarm over Russian officials apparently trying to recruit new troops from among the most vulnerable members of society. The local news outlet Rotonda reported Thursday that an official from the Frunzensky district administration tried to hang up military recruiting flyers at the Nochlezhka shelter. “He offered to put up leaflets about how they are calling people to serve under contract,” a source at the charity organization was quoted saying, adding that the official was not allowed to do so. According to Rotonda, a representative of the local administration confirmed the recruiting effort but insisted it was the personal initiative of officials, and not an order handed down from above. The news comes amid reports that Russia has already lost more than 900 members of elite military units since the start of the Feb. 24 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and following myriad reports in recent weeks that the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group has resorted to recruiting prison inmates for the war effort.