Russia released a group of women from prison in late May to fight in Ukraine, according to two former prisoners who maintain contact with those still there, potentially signaling a new phase in the The Kremlin uses criminals in its war effort.
Military recruiters collected several women from a prison outside St. Petersburg, the former prisoners, who are being granted anonymity to protect them from retaliation. It’s unclear whether their release was an isolated case, a pilot program or the start of a larger wave of female prisoner recruitment.
About 30,000 women were serving in Russia at the beginning of the invasion.
Military recruiter began visiting women’s prisons across European Russia last fall, more than a year after the country’s military began offering amnesty and pay to convicts in exchange for combat service. Yet to this day, convicted women who have enlisted in the military remain detained without official explanation, according to interviews with former and current inmates at four women’s prisons in Russia.
Tens of thousands of imprisoned Russians heeded the military’s call, adding to the force that invaded the country at a crucial moment in the war and helped the country regain its military advantage over Ukraine. Thousands of them were killed in Ukraine. Some survived their military service and have since been discharged commit a serious crimeincluding murder.
The recruitment of female prisoners comes as the Russian government is using increasingly unorthodox schemes to attract volunteers from the margins of Russian society, trying to avoid an unpopular draft other people. In addition to prisoners, these recruitment programs also target debtors, accused persons, and foreigners.
Russia’s defense ministry and prison administration have not previously responded to requests for comment on the country’s prisoner recruitment program.
It is also not known what role the recruited women will play at the front. Military recruiters visit their prison near St. Petersburg last year offered prisoners one-year contracts as snipers, combat medics and front-line radio operators, a significant departure from the largely auxiliary positions filled by mostly women. Russian soldiers took charge. About 40 of the jail’s 400 inmates were registered at the time.
They were offered amnesty and received the equivalent of about $2,000 a month, about 10 times the national minimum wage.
Two women who witnessed recruitment at the prison last year told the New York Times that inmates signed up despite the dangers raised by visiting military officers.
Former prisoners say strict conditions in Russian prisons for women contributed to some women’s decision to join the army. Inmates at the prison near St. Petersburg were forced to stay silent and perform up to 12 hours of forced labor a day at the prison’s sawmill, even when temperatures dropped below zero in winter, the women said.
Convicted soldiers are also being used by Ukraine. After long criticism of Russia’s recruitment of prisoners, Kiev authorities authorized a similar plan last month amid a worsening military shortage. Ukrainian officials have said that Thousands of prisoners have applied for military service since then.
