The Ukrainian army risks succumbing to the military pressure of Russia, which can count on a clear superiority in men, weapons and equipment, while the armaments expected from the West are slow in arriving. Kiev deputy head of military intelligence Vadym Skibitsky said this explicitly yesterday. And so the Ukrainian authorities run for cover, trying everything to avoid the breakthrough of Putin’s forces. Yesterday the Kiev Parliament gave the green light to a law which provides for the possibility of enlisting even for those serving prison sentences, in exchange for freedom. The law, which must be signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky before coming into force, should allow Ukrainian forces to mobilize up to 10,000 new recruits. In fact, all prisoners who have no more than three years of their sentence left to serve can become one on a voluntary basis by submitting a relevant request. Those convicted of serious crimes such as murder, rape, terrorism, drug trafficking or treason are excluded, as are parliamentarians and senior government officials convicted of corruption.
Conditional release: how the process will work for prisoners
Prisoners interested in the “opportunity”, the law provides, will have to submit a request for sentence transformation to the relevant court, which will examine it. If it is accepted, the convicts will be released from prison with the condition of undertaking military service, on the basis of a specific contract. They will have to serve in the army until Ukraine announces demobilization. In exchange, they will be able to count on never having to return to prison again – unless, of course, they commit more crimes before the end of their military service. Kiev’s move to replenish the ranks of the army, as noted Politicsadly recalls the initiative with which the Wagner Group of Putin’s late ally, Yevgeny Prigozhin, built his forces “parallel” to the Russian regular army, making a vast audience available to the Tsar’s wars – including the one in Ukraine – of mercenaries, often just released from prison.
