Politics

Moscow plans to draft 20,000 remand prisoners to fight in Ukraine, sources say

Illustrative Photo by Fermin Torrano/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Illustrative Photo by Fermin Torrano/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Russia’s Ministry of Defense plans to draft around 20,000 people currently in pre-trial detention, or 40% of the country’s remand population, military sources have told a Russian news outlet.

The Moscow Times reported that investigative journalism site IStories had cited unspecified military and legal sources as saying moves are already afoot to take 100 defendants from each of the country’s 210 pre-trial detention centers.

IStories said federal prison statistics put the number of people housed in such facilities at 106,000 at the beginning of 2024, though the figure included both convicts and those awaiting trial.

A week earlier, legislation was enacted that allowed the conscription of pre-trial detainees, closing a loophole that had previously only permitted convicts and people under police investigation to be drafted.

IStories’ sources told the outlet the plan was intended to prevent further public outcries over another partial mobilization.

According to one source, described as being close to the General Staff, the defense ministry was forced to look to remand prisoners as it had run out of convicted felons willing to serve in Ukraine.

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