Lurking in the bushes near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine is a unit of men who have two things in common: The short amount of time they have served defending their nation and time spent behind bars.
The 15 infantry men of the 59th Brigade, part of the Shkval – or wind gust - battalion are former prisoners. Convicted of a variety of crimes, they see their service in defense of Ukraine as redemption and a chance at a new life without a criminal record. The catch for prisoners is that they are contracted to the military until the end of the war.
The ministry did not say how many were currently serving on the front lines The convict-to-combat initiative as well as a conscription reform are an attempt to bolster the faltering ranks of Ukrainian soldiers after two-and-half years of grinding war. But people CNN spoke to along the front line hinted at problems with the program, including inconsistent and short training periods.
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