Ukraine is reportedly rushing to recruit prisoners from the country's jails to fight against Russia as troop numbers decline.
Citing the German newspaper Die Welt, Remix News reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) has turned to prisons to replenish its troop numbers. The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice (MJU) told the German outlet that since May, 2,800 prisoners have been released and are now serving as soldiers. Ukrainian Justice Minister Denis Malyuska added that a total of 10,000 to 20,000 prisoners – both men and women – could join the AFU as part of this recruitment program.
The AFU's prison recruitment program was made possible by a law adopted by the Verkhovna Rada – Ukraine's unicameral parliament – in May and signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the same month. Under the law, prisoners can be released on parole early to join the AFU under contract. However, the law lists several exceptions.
Those convicted of premeditated murder, sexual violence, drug trafficking and production and crimes against national security are prohibited from military service under the program. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak also mentioned that other members of the Verkhovna Rada and top officials who were imprisoned for corruption are also barred. The final version of the bill signed by Zelensky also prohibited prisoners convicted of involuntary manslaughter while in a state of intoxication from being recruited.
"Since the start of the war, Ukraine has lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have been killed or wounded. In addition to a shortage of modern fighter jets and ammunition, a shortage of soldiers is a central problem for Ukraine's war effort," Remix News mentioned. According to Die Welt, the fact that the AFU is already recruiting from prisons shows the seriousness of the issue and highlights its continued inability to fill the gaps. (Related: Ukraine RUNNING OUT of soldiers to fight Russia.)
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Prisoners want to return as heroes
Remix News cited Prison No. 14 in the southwestern Ukrainian city of Odesa as one of many correctional facilities where the AFU has been looking to recruit reinforcements since May. Volunteers have been promised proper training for the frontline and a monthly salary of around 100,000 hryvnias ($2,463) – the same as the standard military salary in Ukraine. Those deployed in assault brigades at the front earn a slightly bigger salary of roughly 120,500 hryvnias ($2,968.90).
According to Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Olena Vysotska, interest in the prison recruitment program has exceeded early expectations. "A lot of the motivation comes from [inmates] wanting to return home a hero, and not to return home from prison," she told the Associated Press (AP).
"Prisoners can get the conditional release after an interview, medical exam and a review of their conviction," the AP continued. "After screening, paroled inmates are rushed to basic training at camps where they learn how to handle weapons and other combat fundamentals. Training is completed later once they join the individual units."
Twenty-seven-year-old Ernest Volvach, who is serving a two-year sentence for robbery, wants to take up the offer. He works in the kitchen at the penal colony in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region but has expressed his desire to "do something for Ukraine" ever since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022.
"It's stupid to sit here doing nothing," he said. "Now, [the opportunity to enlist has] appeared."
"The use of released criminals in this war is nothing new, [as] Russia has been replenishing its own ranks with prisoners," Remix News pointed out. "In the battle for the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut alone, thousands of convicts were seriously wounded or killed in 2023."
But Ukrainian officials are keen to draw a distinction between their program and recruitment in Russia of convicts to serve in the notorious Wagner mercenary group. Those fighters typically have been funneled to the deadliest battles, but the Ukrainian program aims to integrate the inmates into regular Ukrainian frontline units.
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