Ukraine is releasing thousands of prisoners so they can join the fight against Russia

Ukrainian officials are keen to draw a distinction between their program and recruitment in Russia of convicts to serve in the notorious Wagner mercenary group. Those fighters typically have been funneled to the deadliest battles, the officials say, but the Ukrainian program aims to integrate the inmates into regular Ukrainian frontline units.

While recent reforms have reduced the number of prisoners and are credited with improving conditions at some facilities, the U.S. State Department noted credible reports of “degrading treatment or punishment” by prison authorities in its annual report on human rights last year.

😐

When Russia does it it's called penal battalions.

Ukraine certainly needs soldiers.

Didn't they do that at the start, in 2022? I vaguely remember that the bloke from "Tornado" battalion got released, having previously been sentenced for rape

At least that's official compared to how illegal organization had a blank check to parole everyone they can recruit, announcing it via telegram and having it's own terms of demobilization. That's the key distinction. Another one depends on how they integrate these recruits, and that we'll see, as the article doesn't specify if they are planned to be assigned to exclusive ex-con units or mixed into existing ones.