Ukraine is enlisting prisoners to fight against Russia in an effort to bolster its military numbers in the war against Russia. More than 4,000 inmates have applied to join.
In its quest to fill the dwindling ranks of its infantry, Ukraine has turned to recruiting prisoners to join the fight against Russia, and more than four thousand have applied so far. Under a deal offered to inmates by the government, prisoners will have their remaining sentences cleared - regardless of length - if they agree to serve in the army without leave until the end of the war. At that point, they would be granted parole.
My mother was in hysterics ... I've been here for five years – a year left, and I'm going off to war,' one of those who signed up, Mykola Rybalka, told Reuters in the yard of his prison in Kyiv region. Rybalka, who said he was in for theft, is one of 129 prisoners in a colony of 700 who have applied to join the military, according to the justice ministry. 'You know, five years behind these walls leave their mark. You've seen a lot and understood a lot.
Its troops are outnumbered and exhausted, and a new law has recently been signed aimed at mobilizing several hundred thousand more soldiers - although it will likely take months for significant numbers of new troops to be ready. 'There is competition between military commanders to hire since there is a lack of manpower, so they really want to have access to these people,' Justice Minister Denys Maliuska told reporters visiting the prison on Thursday.
The justice ministry said 4,564 prisoners had applied to join the army so far. They need to pass medical checks and have their application approved by a court – more than 1,700 already have the green light. The minister has previously said he expects between 10,000 and 20,000 inmates to sign up in total. Maliuska said he hoped most applicants would be serving in about two months.
Under the new law, 782 prisoners have already been freed from prison and handed over to the armed forces. 'They in the media spotlight, and if there is a single deserter or a single crime, that would be the type of thing in the media that would be bad PR for us,' Maliuska said.
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