As of: March 14, 2024, 5:16 p.m
By: Christoph Gschoßmann
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Press
Split
Ukraine is hoping for a much-needed turnaround in the war.
Support should come from recruiting prisoners.
Kiev – In the Ukraine war, positive news for the country attacked by Russia has recently been a rarity.
There is a shortage of weapons and ammunition, and Moscow's troops are on the advance.
Now a new measure is intended to ensure that more fighters are available to confront Vladimir Putin's soldiers.
Kyiv is desperately looking for soldiers.
At a press conference on February 25, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 31,000 soldiers had died since the start of the war.
Convicts as soldiers: Minister of Justice sees nothing wrong with recruiting people who know how to kill
As Russia is already doing, Ukraine also wants to conscript convicts into military service.
Politico
reports on this
.
14 Ukrainian parliamentarians want to present a bill on Wednesday (March 20, 2024) that would allow prisoners to serve in the military.
There are thousands of convicts in Ukraine who want to join the fight, said Justice Minister Denys Malyuska.
He said he saw nothing wrong with recruiting people who knew how to kill if they could help eliminate the Russian invaders.
Ukrainian soldiers in a position near the front line outside Kupiansk, Kharkiv Region.
(Archive image) © ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP
Currently, Ukrainian law does not allow conscription of prisoners.
But the government has already used this resource once: at the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022, it pardoned more than 300 prisoners who had expressed a desire to join the military.
Malyuska said: “I would say that this experience was more or less successful.
Some of these convicts became heroes and received medals.” Others did not cause much damage.
Convicts who have served most of their sentences could fight for Ukraine
The minister continued: “Everyone understands that we can use convicts.
And the convicts expressed their willingness to protect their country.” It is unclear whether the prison sentences would be shortened and which rules still need to be developed by the legislature.
“Not all military commanders are ready to accept convicts and prisoners into their units, but we will not and do not intend to impose such mobilized individuals on anyone,” it added.
Most likely these are separate departments.
Many former convicts in Russian Wagner group
He added that only prisoners who have served the majority of their sentence and are not considered a danger to the public will be allowed to register.
Men and women who have committed a crime against the state or who have been disgraced while performing military service are also unlikely to be recruited.
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The late Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner group was known for offering convicts pardons for combat duty.
After his death, Russia raised battalions made up mostly of prisoners.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in December that he would mobilize up to half a million more soldiers.
Zelensky wants to introduce an “efficient rotation system” of available troops and points out that of the “almost a million men” who have been drafted so far, only “a minority” are currently deployed at the front.
The draft age in Ukraine is to be lowered by two years
The bill currently being discussed in parliament proposes to lower the draft age from 27 to 25, digitize the recruitment system and limit military service in wartime to 36 months.
These changes worry many who see them as a tightening of conscription.
Reports of alleged conscriptions on the street are circulating on the Internet.
However, forced recruits are not welcome in the force.
“In our unit we don’t like it when men are drafted against their will,” says Ukrainian press officer Ivan Sadontsev.
The army needs motivated, trained soldiers.
Zadontsev hopes that his compatriots will understand how important a strong army is.
“We are fighting for the whole country, for our independence,” he says.
“If we stop fighting, Ukraine will be occupied again.”
(cgsc with dpa)