A series of recent reports have highlighted a shift in Russia's recruitment and treatment of prisoners enlisted to fight in the war in Ukraine. Initially, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally pardoned prisoners who agreed to fight, with the understanding they could return home after six months of service. However, BBC Russian has now uncovered that these pardons are no longer being issued. Instead, prisoners are being released conditionally and are expected to serve until the end of the conflict. This change has been linked to the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who started the recruitment of prisoners in the summer of 2022. Additionally, reports from IStories and former Russian inmates indicate that promises of full salaries and expunged records have not been fulfilled.
Well this is the fate of ruzzian nazi murderers and rapist, they get stuffed by Putins chronies, well no sympathy from me, rott in hell 😡😡😡 https://t.co/W98JsQjo3G
1/ Convicts who have fought for the Russian army in Ukraine say they have been abandoned by the state, left without arms, legs or the compensation they were promised. They say that arbitrary executions of convict soldiers are commonplace and life expectancy is only "hours". ⬇️ https://t.co/geWcId3wqx
In the Russian-occupied Kherson region, many local Ukrainians won’t leave their homes for fear of being abducted and sent to the front line. “Complete paranoia” has taken hold, says the man. “You don’t know with whom you can talk.” https://t.co/hnqU4Hev5D
A catalogue of horror stories about living under russian occupation. This is why Ukraine cannot compromise, there's no compromise with evil like this. https://t.co/8SBSahVWP2 https://t.co/LWMHlTnpZ0
#Moscow’s FSB security service says it has arrested two Russian citizens for passing information about the country’s military to Ukraine. https://t.co/yKx3zZ9NuH
🤔ISW: Kremlin no longer offers pardons to convict recruits going to war https://t.co/gg19QwITvn
Seven former Russian inmates who were recruited from prison to fight in Ukraine wrote to Vladimir Putin after returning home to complain that they never received full salaries or had their records expunged as promised, according to @istories_eng. https://t.co/XW2O4LX3Aj
Russian troops and Kremlin-appointed authorities in occupied territory are forcing Ukrainians to take Russian passports, threatening to take their homes and property, conscript them into the army, or just detain and abuse them if they refuse. My story: https://t.co/hnqU4Hev5D https://t.co/7b9oIy1tLT
⚡️ Media: Russian convict recruits no longer receive pardons for fighting in Ukraine. Russian fighters drawn from prisons no longer receive pardons nor full promised payments for fighting in Ukraine, IStories reported on Jan. 25. https://t.co/lDaLibfkIn
Russian prisoners who left to fight in Ukraine no longer receive a pardon from Putin and serve until the end of the so-called "SMO" — Russian BBC. Recruitment of prisoners from Russian colonies in the summer of 2022 was started by the founder of the Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin.… https://t.co/qtMdmnSWgb https://t.co/z0N9fxlA5d
The Russian military has refined its recruitment of prisoners, distancing Vladimir Putin from the process and preventing inmate soldiers from returning to civilian life before the war’s end, reports @bbcrussian. https://t.co/aVhqTJ0nwT
Great investigation by @bbcrussian’s @lizafokht & co. The Kremlin has refined its prisoner recruitment in ways that demonstrate great sensitivity to Putin’s reputation and regular troop morale. No more presidential pardons and no more short-term service. https://t.co/iPeSMWx0bp
Russia’s forced mobilization campaign in the Ukrainian territories it occupies has severely depleted the workforce, hollowing out municipal services. The dire conditions are pushing more Ukrainians under occupation to turn against Russian forces. https://t.co/lvTCQQrhYU
When Russia first recruited prisoners to fight in Ukraine, Putin pardoned them personally and they could go home after 6 months. Now there's no pardon – and they must stay at the front until the war's over. great story by @lizafokht @barabanch @oivshina https://t.co/njpPyWLIEP
Putin no longer signs pardons for prisoners who are sent to war from Russian prisons - BBC They are now released "conditionally" and are not allowed to leave the army after 6 months, but are sent to the front until the end of hostilities. https://t.co/BcMzRQOfZk
BBC Russian finds out that pardoning and six-month limit on the frontline is no longer the deal for Russian prison inmates. These days, they get conditional release and are expected to serve till the end of the war. https://t.co/PYLrIGGy46
Sickening. Settler colonialism as a "real estate development" doesn't even begin to cover this. The apartments in Mariupol are stolen property, and the Russians moving in are literally fixing up their living rooms on top of Ukrainian corpses. Lebensraum is a more apt description. https://t.co/wMAqBLAEbu
Russian ad videos about Mariupol estate market started appearing. They use the term "destruct" (houses/apartments that were destroyed by Russia and their owners either killed or forced to flee). The videos tell how profitable it is for Russians to buy such real estate now. This… https://t.co/6DOWlFLdGf
🇷🇺🇺🇦🚨‼️Incredible Sherba lies again! Ukranians sell their apartment in Mariupol and Sherba pretends Russians took it away from them and sell it themselves. Ukrainian propaganda… 🤷♂️ https://t.co/gEMxPdQt3X https://t.co/ROAbuKVkwZ