Russia also uses criminal prisoners as soldiers in the Ukraine war. US research now shows how they are treated there.
Cherson – Russia recruited for the Ukraine war also prisoners from prisons – for lack of recruits and because of the high losses at the front. A report in the US newspaper describes how former prisoners fare at the front New York Times.
The newspaper relies on statements by four former prisoners who fought in Ukraine. The information about the conditions at the front came partly from voice messages, partly from direct interviews or conversations with relatives.
It is said that contact with the men was established by a Russian human rights activist. Their identities were confirmed based on court records and information from friends and relatives. However, the ex-convicts’ accounts have not been independently verified.
One of those affected, called Alexandr, provided the most vivid descriptions of his time at the front. Like many others, he was promised $2,000 a month if he volunteered for military service. He’s holding on for half a year Ukraine through, wave him free, was evidently in his contract, which he of New York Times submitted.
Ex-prisoners fight for Russia in Ukraine – “They tell us: you are nobody”
Last March, the man convicted of murder reported for the Ukraine mission and ended up in a convict unit. It is not known how many former prisoners are fighting for Russia in these units. According to research by the British BBC and the independent Russian news agency media zone However, the most common Russian casualties in the Ukraine war are said to be ex-prisoners.
If you believe Alexandr’s descriptions, that’s not surprising. “We are being sent to a massacre,” he complained in audio messages about his army superiors. “We are not human to them because we are criminals. They tell us: ‘You are nobody and your name is nothing.’”
“Just Bait”: Ex-prisoners complain about the lack of equipment in Ukraine
After a month of training, his unit was sent to the Cherson region to prevent the Ukrainians from crossing the Dnipro River. For weeks they were bombed from across the river and targeted by snipers and night ambushes. Apart from a few rows of burned-out houses, the swampy, flat area offered no protection whatsoever.
The prisoners were also not equipped with sharp weapons. “I’m running around like an idiot with an automatic gun. I didn’t fire a single shot, I didn’t see a single enemy,” another former inmate reportedly said in a voice message to his wife. “We’re just bait to expose their artillery positions.”
The losses within the unit were immense, 40 of the original 120 men are still alive today, according to Alexandr. Life was like being on a powder keg every day. The salary was also far behind what was promised. After six months, the survivors were also forced to stay at the front for another year.
No food and no water – Fallen just lie there
For days there was no food and no water. Then he and the other men searched garbage dumps and drank rainwater. Some of their officers instructed them to simply leave fallen comrades where they were – this is how the army would have avoided paying their families the promised compensation. Alexandr describes how he saw dogs gnawing on the corpses of his comrades. “There were dead bodies everywhere.”
“This is not our war” – Inhuman conditions for Russian prisoners
Alexandr was eventually injured when his detachment was set to mine a riverbank and was hit by a Ukrainian shell. Now he is housed in a hut in the hinterland with other Russian soldiers who are recovering from a war injury. His existence there is “scary,” he reports. “This is not our war”, there is “nothing humane” there.
A devastating judgment on the actions of the Russian army was also made by a Russian commander who was a prisoner of war and who was given a 14-minute interrogation to describe the conditions in the Ukraine. (smu)
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