Ukrainian deputies adopted on Wednesday May 8, at second reading, a bill allowing the mobilization of certain detainees. These individuals would have the possibility of going to fight at the front in exchange for conditional release. The text must still pass into the hands of the President of Parliament, then Volodymyr Zelensky.
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From 2022, the Russia used prisoners, first recruited by the Wagner group, then directly by the Russian army. L’Ukraineafter two years of conflict, lack of soldiers, so she decided to do the same.
An MP from President Zelensky’s party gave the details of the text voted on Wednesday on Facebook: only those who have less than three years in prison remaining will be able to make the request; the measure operates on a voluntary basis; and after examining the state of physical and mental health of each prisoner, the army will give its approval or not.
Are excluded: prisoners convicted of certain serious crimes, in particular for “ intentional homicides of two or more people », sexual violence, attacks on national security or “ serious » convictions for corruption. The prisoners held will be part of special units.
Reaction from the Ukrainian NGO “Protection for Prisoners in Ukraine”: the text is “ discriminatory “. According to its director, it does not provide leave for these prisoners, and “ it is unclear whether they will have to fight until the end of the war, which could mean longer than their sentence “.
Oleg Tsvily also fears that they will become, as in Russia, cannon fodder for front-line missions.
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