Ukraine recruits prisoners to bolster military forces

In a rural penal colony in southeastern Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, several prisoners stand behind barbed wire, listening to an army recruiter. He offers them a chance at conditional release in return for taking up arms and heading to the front to face the Russians.

"You can put an end to this and start a new life," said the recruiter, a member of a volunteer storm battalion, as quoted by AP journalists. "The most important thing is your will because you are going to defend your homeland. You cannot be 50% successful; you have to give 100%, or even 150%," he added.

On Tuesday, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine stated that over 3,000 prisoners conditionally released from jails have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and are already in military units.

This happened after parliament approved a mobilization law signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 17. The right to release from serving a sentence to join the army does not apply to those convicted of intentional murder of two or more people, pedophilia, rape, sexual assault, and corruption, as well as crimes against state security.

It also does not apply to convicts who held high state positions before their sentences, including ministers and deputies, and those convicted of drug production, distribution, or possession.

According to estimates by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, potentially around 27,000 prisoners could qualify for the new program.

Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Justice Olena Vysotska said a large part of the motivation comes from the fact that prisoners "want to return home as heroes, not as former prisoners."

There is no shortage of volunteers. Ernest Wolwach, 27, is serving a two-year sentence for robbery. He works in the kitchen, scooping food into metal bowls. "It's stupid to sit here and do nothing," he says in an interview with AP, adding that since the beginning of the war, he has wanted to do something for Ukraine and have the opportunity to enlist in the army.

"I decided to sign up for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army because I have a family at home, children, parents," said a 29-year-old, shouting over the sounds of gunfire at the shooting range. "I will be more useful in the war," he added.

"These actions indicate significant problems with mobilizing men," says retired Col. Piotr Lewandowski, a participant in missions in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan, currently an instructor and lecturer at the WOT Training Center. "Ukraine needs to replenish losses, although they are also talking about creating 10 new brigades. This confirms that mobilization problems are serious. However, the mere fact of incorporating prisoners will not negatively impact the capabilities of the armed forces. Quite the opposite," he adds.

"I would prefer a motivated prisoner volunteer over someone caught off the street or dragged out of their home and forced into military service," the military officer emphasizes.

Ukraine has had this problem for a long time. The Border Guard reports daily cases of attempts to escape the country. In just one day, 100 men were detained.

The country is abuzz with an investigation into orders issued by Gen. Yuriy Sodol, who has been called "the butcher." Soldiers claim that "Sodol did not value personnel. Neither officers nor soldiers," and due to his absurd orders, tens, if not hundreds, of soldiers died.

Another problem for Kyiv is that approximately 800,000 men of draft age have left the country. In mid-May, a law came into effect blocking consular services for men aged 18 to 65. Without an up-to-date registration with the Military Recruitment Office, they will not be able to, for example, apply for a passport or even change their marital status.

No one in Ukraine is surprised anymore by roundups, which have become commonplace. TCK workers (the equivalent of the Polish WKU) forcibly seized and packed into cars the so-called evaders, who did not report to the military commission or did not enter their data into military recruitment systems.

Col. Lewandowski admits that Ukraine made the decision to draft prisoners into the army "definitely too late."

"The reasons were non-substantive, only PR," he explains. "The other side will undoubtedly use this to spread information that Ukrainians will be sending criminals to fight. The Russians will use this while ignoring the fact that they are doing it in a much more drastic way," the expert emphasizes.

"In the case of prisoner mobilization rules in Ukraine, it should be noted that these are not individuals forcibly extracted from penal colonies. In Ukraine, these applications are reviewed by a court and relate to a specific group of crimes. There was information that individuals serving sentences for unintentional manslaughter would be pardoned, but the key is that there is no intentionality in the act," Col. Lewandowski highlights.

In comparison, the now-defunct Wagner Group recruited the most brutal and terrifying criminals into its unit—often convicted of multiple rapes, murders with particular cruelty, and those addicted to drugs or alcohol.

In mid-March, the Russian State Duma passed two bills in the third and final reading, allowing prisoners to be released from serving sentences under the condition of signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense. Thousands of criminals, including rapists, will go to the front.

Kyiv emphasizes that the essence of the prisoner recruitment program is their integration into regular units. The Kremlin, on the other hand, most often placed convicts in the so-called Storm-V and Storm-Z units. British intelligence noted that Russian commanders often punish soldiers abusing drugs and alcohol by forcing them to fight in the Storm-Z units, which were established in April 2023.

Storm-V units were created after June 24 of the same year when Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed new legislation allowing convicts to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense for six months. Upon their return—if they did not perish—they received the promised exoneration. From January to October 2023 alone, approximately 54,000 convicts were incorporated into the units. Soldiers from the Z and V units also regularly participated in meat attacks.