Russian penal military units
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia has recruited substantial numbers of prisoners into military units.[1][2]
The Russian paramilitary Wagner Group widely recruited from prisons starting in 2022, growing their forces by an estimated 40,000.[2][3] According to the New York Times, Wagner's prison recruitment campaign began in early July 2022, when Prigozhin personally appeared in prisons around St. Petersburg and offered deals to the prisoners.[4] However, the Wagner Group lost access to the prisons in February 2023 amidst schisms with the regular Russian Ministry of Defense.[2][3] The Russian MoD itself reportedly began recruiting prisoners in October 2022.[3]
In April 2023, information emerged about the creation of the Storm-Z series of units by the MoD.[5] After receiving only ten to fifteen days of training,[6] these units are attached to regular Russian forces suffering from battle fatigue.[7]
Motivation
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense described the recruitment as part of a "broader, intense effort by the Russian military to bolster its numbers, while attempting to avoid implementing new mandatory mobilisation, which would be very unpopular with the Russian public."[2]
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that the increase in Ministry of Defense prison recruitment in June 2023 came in "the wake of significant losses in Ukraine".[8]
Use and treatment
In a September 2022 speech to prisoners, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, said that recruits would be used as shock troops, who lead attacks and take heavy casualties.[9] Experts and captured Wagner soldiers said that prisoner recruits were used as "little more than cannon fodder".[2]
Thousands of Wagner convict soldiers played a key role in the Battle of Bakhmut, taking part in wave attacks against Ukrainian positions.[10][11] Ukrainian media has said that the convicts are "dumped onto the front after 2-3 weeks of poor training and used as cannon fodder" by the more elite, well-trained Wagner group commanders.[12]
In the September 2022 speech, Prigozhin also said that any prisoner who joined and then attempted to flee service would be "considered a deserter and shot".[9] In March 2023, United Nations experts expressed concern over allegations that recruits are "regularly threatened and ill-treated by their superiors,", and said they had information that "several recruits have been executed for attempting to escape and, in other cases, seriously injured in public as a warning to other recruits." They described the tactics as human rights violations and said that they "may amount to war crimes".[1]
By March 2023, the British Ministry of Defense said that about half of the recruited Wagner prisoners had been killed or wounded in Ukraine.[2]
Release of prisoners and consequences
Under the Wagner model, if prisoners can survive a six-month term at the frontline, they are released into Russian society and given a pardon for their crimes.[13][9] Many of the released men are hardened criminals. Russians fear that the released men will continue to commit more crimes.[13] In August 2023, a convicted criminal freed after fighting with Wagner was arrested on accusations of stabbing six people to death in the town of Derevyannoye in Russia's Republic of Karelia.[14]
Olga Romanova of Russia Behind Bars said that as a result of this policy, "There are no more crimes, and no more punishments. Anything is permissible now, and this brings very far-reaching consequences for any country."[4]
References
- "Russian Federation: UN experts alarmed by recruitment of prisoners by "Wagner Group"". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- Baker, Sinéad (11 May 2023). "Russia's military is copying the Wagner playbook of recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine, with up to 10,000 signing up in April alone, UK intel says". Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- Stepanenko, Kateryna; Kagan, Frederick W. (12 March 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 12, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- Kurmanaev, Anatoly; Lobzina, Alina; Bodyagina, Ekaterina (30 January 2023). "Russia Freed Prisoners to Fight Its War. Here's How Some Fared". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- Lewis, Kaitlin (7 April 2023). "Ukrainian reserve officer says Russia is forming special "Storm Z" units". Newsweek.
- "Russian commanders constructing company-size units for urban combat - ISW Russian commanders constructing company-size units for urban combat". Ukrinform. 7 April 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- Hird, Karolina; Bailey, Riley; Howard, Angela; Mappes, Grace; Philipson, Layne; Clark, Mason (6 April 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 6, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- "Russia moves to legalise prisoners fighting in Ukraine war". Al Jazeera. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- Triebert, Christiaan (16 September 2022). "Video Reveals How Russian Mercenaries Recruit Inmates for Ukraine War". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- Beaumont, Peter (10 December 2022). "In the 'Bakhmut meat grinder', deadlocked enemy forces slog it out". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- "Russia's 'disposable soldiers' fighting for Bakhmut". The Times of India. AFP. 2 November 2022. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- Kyrylenko, Olga (8 December 2022). "Invincibility centre Bakhmut. What is happening at the most difficult axis of the front". Pravda. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- Roth, Andrew; Sauer, Pjotr (10 February 2023). "'He's really dangerous': fear as Wagner convict soldiers return from Ukraine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- "Former Wagner Mercenary Recruited From Russian Prison Accused Of Killing Six". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.