The late founder of the mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had started the practice of recruiting convicts for the war in Ukraine.
  • Russia is recruiting female convicts to boost its military forces, a Ukrainian intelligence spokesperson said.
  • Moscow wants to recruit the convicts to auxiliary and combat roles, the Kyiv Post reported.
  • More than 100,000 convicts from Russian penal colonies have reportedly been conscripted to fight in Ukraine.