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Ukraine will begin recruiting prisoners to fight Russia to bolster its front-line troops under a new law, including men convicted of murder or fraud.
In a tactic Moscow has relied on since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kiev would begin offering certain convicts a path to freedom if they agreed to join a combat unit.
The bill, passed by Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday, is the latest in a series of measures aimed at mobilizing more men to replace casualties and soldiers exhausted by long deployments on the front lines. The signature of President Volodymyr Zelensky is required for it to come into force.
Convict recruitment is expected to result in several thousand new recruits from a prison population of about 20,000, according to David Arakhamia, a senior lawmaker. That’s a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of newly minted soldiers that Ukraine says it needs this year to stop Moscow’s advancing troops.
The Russian army and militias stationed in Ukraine routinely withdraw manpower from prisons, regardless of the crimes the recruits have committed. There were numerous examples of convicts reoffending while serving or after returning to Russia, further damaging the reputation of the Russian armed forces.
Although Ukraine’s decision to turn to prisons is based on the same need for workers, Kiev has introduced stricter eligibility requirements to distance itself from Russia’s more ruthless prison recruiting practices.
The ineligible convicts include serial killers, drug traffickers and those guilty of sexual violence, corruption and crimes against national security, according to Olena Shuliak, a lawmaker from Zelensky’s party.
Men convicted of a single murder can sign up, but would be automatically excluded if they were also found guilty of rape. Former high-ranking politicians and ministers who are serving prison sentences are also not allowed to apply.
Shuliak acknowledged that the law had the potential to “provoke a violent reaction from society,” but said it was drafted jointly with the defense and justice ministries as well as the armed forces.
“It is only possible to withstand the conditions of all-out war against an enemy with more resources by putting everyone together [our] Forces. This bill is about our fight and preserving Ukrainian statehood,” she wrote on social media.
Ukrainian prisoners who volunteer must undergo a physical and mental health test and must serve at least three more years of their sentence. They will serve in special forces as long as the war lasts or until they are demobilized.
Anyone who fails to complete their military service or attempts to defect is punished with five to ten years in prison. If they commit another crime while serving the sentence, the remaining sentence will be credited to the previous sentence.