Ukraine turns to prisons to replenish frontline forces

Ukraine is to start recruiting prisoners to fight against Russia under a new law designed to bolster its frontline forces, including with men convicted of murder or fraud.

Using a tactic Moscow has relied on to fill ranks since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv would begin to offer certain convicts a path to freedom if they are willing to join a combat unit.

The bill, approved on Wednesday by the Ukrainian parliament, is the latest in a series of measures aimed at mobilising more men to replace casualties and soldiers exhausted from long tours on the frontline. It still requires the signature of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter into force.

The drive to enlist convicts is expected to result in several thousand new recruits from a prison population of about 20,000, according to David Arakhamia, a senior lawmaker. That is a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of fresh soldiers Ukraine says it needs this year to hold back Moscow’s advancing forces.