Recruiters took some women from a prison near St. Petersburg, but it is not yet clear whether this is an isolated case, a pilot program or the start of a large wave of recruitment of incarcerated women.
At the end of May, a group of women were released from prison in Russia to join the fight in Ukraine. This could signal a new phase in the Kremlin’s use of criminals in its military efforts, The New York Times wrote.
Citing its own sources, the publication wrote that the recruiters took several women from a prison near St. Petersburg, but it is not yet clear whether this is an isolated case, a pilot program or the beginning of a large-scale wave of recruitment of female prisoners.
It was reported that at the beginning of the mass invasion of Ukraine, about 30 thousand women were serving their sentences in Russian prisons.
The publication wrote that military recruiters began touring prisons for women across European Russia in the fall of 2023, more than a year after Moscow began offering pardons and salaries to convicted men in exchange for military service. But until now, convicted women who entered military service remained prisoners without an official explanation.
It was also noted that military recruiters who visited their prison near St. Petersburg last year offered prisoners contracts to serve as snipers, combat nurses and radio operators on the front lines for a year. Then about 40 of the 400 female inmates signed up.
It was noted that they were offered a pardon and a salary equivalent to about $2,000 a month, which is about 10 times the national minimum wage.
Two women who witnessed prison recruitment last year told The New York Times that women volunteered to go to war in part because of harsh conditions in Russian prisons for women, where they were forced to remain silent at all times and spend up to 12 hours of time. a day, performing mandatory work in the prison sawmill even in sub-zero winter temperatures.
We remind you that in Ukraine, convicted women can also go to war, but the Minister of Justice says that there is no demand for this yet.
President Vladimir Zelensky signed a law on the mobilization of prisoners. The law provides conditional early release from serving the sentence for prisoners who decide to sign a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.