Ukraine has released over 3,000 prisoners on parole and assigned them to military units after President Voldomyr Zelensky signed a bill into law in May that allowed recruitment from Ukraine’s prisons.
Ukraine’s Justice Ministry estimates that around 27,000 prisoners are eligible for military service under the new law, which allows the recruitment of murderers, as long as they didn’t kill more than one person and only have no more than three years of their sentence to serve.
Prisoners recruited by Russia’s Wagner Group made up much of the fighting force on the Russian side in the brutal battle of Bakhmut. At the time, Ukrainian and American officials condemned Russia for using prisoners.
The new Ukrainian law is just one of the desperate measures being taken to deal with Ukraine’s significant manpower shortages. Kyiv is also looking to pressure Ukrainian men living abroad to return home to fight and cut off consular services for them.
Earlier in the year, Zelensky signed a new mobilization bill into law that lowered the age of eligible conscripts for mobilization from 27 to 25. Another law established an electronic database for military-age men between the ages of 17 and 60.
Under martial law that’s been imposed since the Russian invasion was launched in February 2022, men ages 18 to 60 cannot leave the country. Zelensky’s martial law declaration also canceled elections, and he remains in power despite his presidential term expiring in May.
