Russian Convicts Moscow Forcing to Fight in Ukraine Often Put in Front Lines and are First to Die There, ‘Regional Dimension’ Reports

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Mar. 3 – In the first year of Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine, Moscow had little trouble getting convicts to volunteer to fight in Ukraine in exchange for a pardon; but more recently, fewer convicts have been prepared to volunteer and so Russian jailors have been exerting ever more administrative pressures.
    One reason this is so is that word has filtered back that when convicts who have agreed to serve in Ukraine arrive there, they are often immediately put in the front lines where many if not all of them are killed. Those in prison don’t see escape from prison only to face near certain death as a good option.
    The reason that Russian commanders use such troops in this way is clear as well. These are not the obedient soldiers officers want, and they are only too glad to use them as cannon fodder, especially as they know Russian officials probably aren’t displeased by such losses given how angry Russians are becoming about crimes committed by ex-cons who do manage to return.     
    This pattern is not one that Kremlin media are interested in reporting, but the Regional Dimension portal has documented it, a task made easier because the relatives of former convicts who have been killed have banded together in order to protest what is going on (regaspect.info/2025/03/03/bez-prava-na-zhizn/).