More than 100 thousand prisoners will take part: how Russia is recruiting the population for war

Russians kill prisoners if they want to surrender to Ukrainian captivity / Collage 24 Channel / Getty Images / Bankstoday

Vladimir Putin does not announce general mobilization, because there is nothing to arm the army with. Therefore, for now, the occupiers are sending prisoners to the war with Ukraine.

The Russians deal harshly with convicts who want to surrender to Ukrainian captivity or escape. Russian human rights activist and founder of the Gulagu.net organization Vladimir Osechkin shared this information with Channel 24 , adding that Russia will send more than 100 thousand prisoners to the war with Ukraine by the end of 2023.

Prisoners at the front – an unlimited resource

According to Osechkin, the late Yevgeny Prigozhin was able to recruit more than 50 thousand convicts to the Wagner PIK. And during the spring-summer period, the Russian Ministry of Defense was able to recruit about 25 thousand prisoners into the units “Storm-Z”, “North-Z”, “Veterans-Z” and PPK “Redut”.

Prigozhin at one time could come to one colony and immediately pick up 150 – 200 prisoners. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the aggressor country cannot achieve such figures, but they have representatives in each of the 80 regions of Russia who recruit 5–7 convicts from each regional colony.

According to our estimates, by the end of 2023, more than 100 thousand prisoners will take part in the war. Even in November-December they will cross this bar,” the Russian human rights activist emphasized.

In addition, in Russia the number of “fairly” convicted people can easily be increased. Putin's repressive apparatus is configured in such a way that it allows any number of people to be arrested and imprisoned. Places in colonies vacated after prisoners were sent to war are immediately filled with new prisoners. The FSB and the Russian police work very harmoniously in such cases and skillfully send Russians to jail.

This is the unlimited work of the repressive apparatus to fill prisons. Accordingly, systematic recruitment work is a great resource and at the same time a big problem,” Osechkin emphasized.

Russia shoots its own

Osechkin said that there are many cases where Russian prisoners signed a contract with the occupying army, only to then escape from the front and surrender into Ukrainian captivity. However, the corral units are actively preventing this by killing Russians.

Osechkin told how Russia recruits prisoners for war: watch video

To do this they use different types of weapons:

• eliminated with a machine gun shot in the back as the fugitive runs through the trenches;
• liquidated by mortars and artillery.

There are a number of testimonies where when groups of 5-6 prisoners decided to surrender, they were covered with artillery in the middle of the field, wasting a large amount of ammunition. Because of such risks, only a small number think of somehow cheating and leaving, because the chances of surviving and surviving are scanty,” said Vladimir Osechkin.

In addition, the Russian leadership acts extremely vilely towards convicts. Former prisoners who were in the Wagner prison in December 2022 and who survived said that they were not initially sent to the front line, but were ordered to clear a populated area under strict aerial reconnaissance surveillance. If anyone had refused to participate in the cleansing and kill civilians, they would have been immediately liquidated.

In this way, incriminating evidence is collected. Because of these crimes, they will receive life imprisonment in Ukraine or in The Hague prison. There are inhumane conditions there – it’s a long time to have incriminating evidence and “bind people with blood,” summed up the founder of the Gulagu.net organization.

Russia is recruiting prisoners for war

• In Russia, about 100 thousand convicts were released from prisons and sent to fight in Ukraine.
• The sharp drop in the number of prisoners indicates that the Russian Ministry of Defense continues to recruit convicted prisoners according to the traditions of the Wagnerites.
• The American Institute for the Study of War reports that former prisoners who served in the private military company PPK Wagner are being recruited by the National Guard. This is necessary to subjugate the remnants of the mercenaries and strengthen its role as an internal security organ.