Russia Army Recruits Prisoners Knowing 'Most Of Them Will Be Killed': Ukraine Intel

The Russian army is recruiting prisoners to join its invasion of Ukraine despite knowing that many of them will be killed in the conflict, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

Speaking at the national telethon, Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry, on Tuesday confirmed reports that the Russian army is recruiting prisoners to join its “patriotic ethnic battalions” in Ukraine. But he said that most of the prisoners would likely die on the battlefield and the Russian government would unlikely be held responsible for their deaths.

“First of all, it is confirmed that recruitment into the Russian army units is taking place in all regions and in all possible places, including prisons. But it should be noted that this is done for a reason: newly-formed units are in many cases deployed in the hottest spots, and it has already been calculated by the Russian command that most of them will be killed there,” Skibitskyi was quoted as saying by Ukrinform. “And accordingly, the government, and even more so the Russian defense ministry, won’t be held accountable for their deaths.”

Skibitskyi’s remarks come after Gulagu.net, a prisoner’s rights group, last week said representatives of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and the infamous Wagner Group are beginning to recruit prisoners with combat experience en masse to either fight or work on restoring occupied territories in Ukraine.

Some recruiters are reportedly promising to pay 5 million rubles ($90,500) to the families of prisoners who die in the war. Other prisoners are offered 300,000 rubles ($5,300) in monthly salaries if they agree to sign a contract with the Russian military.

One Russian veteran of the war in Ukraine recently published a short video online where he claimed he was not given the promised payment of $2,000 despite completing his military service.

The veteran’s claim is corroborated by Skibitskyi who said they received reports that claimed high wages no longer work as a recruitment driver. He added that in many cases Russian soldiers never receive the money they were promised. Skibitskyi said the same will likely happen to prisoners recruited to join the war and added that they will only serve as “pure cannon fodder.”