Nearly 5,000 Ukrainian Inmates Volunteer to Fight
Following the passing of Ukraine’s May 17 law to allow certain categories of prisoners to volunteer to serve in the military it was assessed that up to 20,000 would be eligible.
Since both Russia and Ukraine now have prisoners in their military force, how likely it is to have an Ukrainian prisoner serving Russia fighting a Russian prisoner serving Ukraine in the battle field?
Ukrainian prisoners are volunteering to fight for Ukraine and being forced to fight for Russia.
AFAIK there are no Russian pows serving the Ukrainian military
that's freedom of russia legion and russian volunteer corps. not many of them, low thousands for the former few hundreds for the latter
Supposedly there are former Russian POWs in both the Freedom of Russia Legion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Russia_Legion?#History which fights under the UAF International Legion, and the right wing Russian Volunteer Corps https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/4/23/i-want-to-make-up-for-mistakes-the-russian-pows-fighting-for-ukraine
In the case of that Al Jazeera article, the POW who was recruited was part of a prisoner exchange and was on a bus about go back to Russia.
these aren't POWs, just regular prisoners
“Here is better than home, eh, sir? I mean, at home if you kill someone they arrest you, here they'll give you a gun and show you what to do, sir. I mean, I killed fifteen of those buggers. Now, at home they'd hang me, here they'll give me a fucking medal, sir."
Penal battalions vs penal battalions is not a sign the war is going "well" for anyone (except maybe if you can short the prison industrial complex)...
Huh I wonder if volunteer penal battalions are more effective than conscripted ones? And are these guys going to be used in combat roles or just supplemented labor roles i.e. digging trenches, camp cooks, etc?
Russia:
Moscow’s version allowed serial killers, rapists, pedophiles and other serious criminals to receive a “get out of jail free card and, initially, a complete pardon after serving as little as six months on the front line. This was amended earlier in 2024 as the public outcry in Russia grew after several high profile violent crimes were committed by returning releasees.
vs Ukraine:
Ukraine has set limits on who could qualify. Only prisoners with fewer than three years left on their sentence can apply, with mobilized prisoners being granted parole rather than a pardon.
Among those not eligible to serve are those found guilty of premeditated murder, rape, sexual violence or sexual crimes against minors, those involved in serious corruption, crimes against national security, and those who have held official office, including former MPs and ministers.
Only a few hundred have been approved so far, out of the thousands that have applied