According to the Ukrainian army and a Russian human rights organization, Russia is filling in the gaps in its invasion force by sending women prisoners to fight in Ukraine.
“Last week, a train with reserved seats went to transport prisoners to the Donetsk region (in eastern Ukraine),” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Monday. “One of the wagons was with prisoners.”
Ukraine has previously made similar statements. On February 4, the army reported that 50 women had been recruited from a prison in occupied Donetsk “to compensate for the loss of manpower.”
The allegation was confirmed by the Moscow-based prisoner rights organization Russia Behind Bars.
“(Women) have been taken out of colonies in southern Russia,” founder Olga Romanova told a Russian investigative news site. Important StoriesWe add that about 100 female prisoners were drafted into the army.
The terms of recruitment or the role of women in the army were not specified. Ms Romanova did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia Behind Bars was one of the first to report on the mass recruitment of prisoners by mercenaries, the Wagner Group, before a video leaked in September showed the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin giving a speech to prisoners promising them a six-month sentence in exchange for release. in Ukraine.
Mr. Prigozhin then stated that active efforts to recruit female prisoners were being made but had not been approved. “We are working in this direction. There is resistance, but we will continue,” he wrote on Telegram in December, adding that women could be used in “sabotage groups and sniper pairs.”
The military commander has since said that Wagner was banned from recruiting from prisons as relations with the Russian Defense Ministry deteriorated. According to captured soldiers and Russian human rights groups, the regular Russian army has also begun using convicted fighters.
Russia Behind Bars has reported surprisingly high casualty rates among prisoners who were reportedly used with little regard for their safety. The group stated that about 80 per cent of the approximately 50,000 convicts recruited were killed, wounded or fled.
Russia is believed to be exploring ways to expand its invasion force ahead of the war’s critical period, and both sides are likely planning offensives in the spring.
According to the September draft, President Vladimir Putin may order another wave of mobilization. Russian lawmakers are also considering a bill to raise the draft age from 18 to 21, which would expand the range to two transitional years.
Activist groups will continue to advocate for women prisoners, says Sofia, who will only give her first name for security reasons, from the Feminist Anti-War Resistance (FAR) network, which operates in Russia and around the world.
“Women prisoners are one of the most marginalized communities in Russia, so it was only a matter of time before they were forced to participate in the war,” she said. I. “At the moment it is not clear what they are being forced to do. Will they fight alongside male recruits on the front lines?
According to the activist, FAR will try to draw attention to the problem through its underground media.
The Russian military has not commented.
Source: I News
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