Russia introduced special military registration for prisoners
In Russia, they have introduced special military registration for prisoners (photo: Getty Images)
In Russia, the government has introduced a special military registration for imprisoned citizens in prisons and penal colonies. This registration does not require reporting to the military enlistment office and will be conducted without a medical examination or psychological assessment, reports Russian news agency TASS.
The agency notes that the lists of this military registration will include information such as the citizen's name, date and place of birth; the unit, division, and article of the Criminal Code under which they were convicted; details about the type of punishment; and information about the institution where they are serving their sentence.
These lists are planned to be cross-referenced with the documents of the military enlistment offices at least once a year.
It should be noted that previously, imprisoned Russian citizens were not subject to military registration.
Prisoners in the Russian Army
Russia has been actively using prisoners for its war in Ukraine. This practice was initially pioneered by the private military company Wagner. In October 2022, it became known that they had started recruiting inmates from Russian prisons, particularly those suffering from serious infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis C.
Subsequently, other units within the Russian military adopted this practice. Recently, it was reported that Russia has witnessed a record decrease in the number of prisoners, which is believed to be linked to sending these prisoners to the war in Ukraine.
Furthermore, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War have noted that the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) is recruiting former prisoners who served in Wagner to bring the remnants of mercenaries under their control and strengthen their role as an internal security force.
