[Jimbuna]

No more easy deals for Russian convicts freed to fight

Russia has been releasing prisoners to fight in Ukraine for more than a year, originally offering them a pardon and freedom after six months, even if they have been convicted of a violent crime.

But the BBC has discovered this deal is a thing of the past. Now, they no longer get a pardon, face tougher conditions and instead of going home early, they must fight until the end of the war.

"If you sign up now, be ready to die," writes a man called Sergei in a chatroom for former Russian prisoners fighting in Ukraine.

He says that since October he's been part of a new type of army unit with the name "Storm V" which convicts are now being assigned to.

"Before you could wing it for six months. But now, you have to make it until the end of the war," he writes.

When the mass recruitment of Russian prisoners started in the summer of 2022, it was led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, once the head of the Wagner private military group. Prisoners were offered a clean record, full pardon and allowed to go home after six months on the battlefield.

Before he died in a plane crash in August, Prigozhin said that almost 50,000 Russian prisoners had been dispatched to the front line under this deal - similar figures have been cited by human rights activists. Thousands of those prisoners died, but others, including dozens convicted of violent crimes returned home, with some going on to re-offend and even commit murder.

The Russian military took over the scheme in February 2023, initially offering the same incentives as Prigozhin.

But the arrangement meant prisoners released to fight could go home after six months and were in a more privileged position than regular soldiers. That upset men who had been mobilised and their families.

Now, new conditions for prisoners redress that balance and are far stricter.

From reviewing messages in chatrooms and speaking to fighters and relatives, the BBC can confirm that Storm V troops are currently serving along the front line, from Zaporizhzhia in the south of Ukraine to Bakhmut in the east.

One woman from the Transbaikal region in Russia's Far East, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC her husband was recruited into one of the Storm V squads at the beginning of autumn 2023. She would not reveal what crime he had committed, but said it was "a serious charge".

She said they made the decision together that he would fight in Ukraine, believing it would result in a quicker release.

"This February would have been 15 years since he was sentenced. He had another four to go," she said. "Conditions in the prison were OK. He could have continued to serve his sentence, but this was the only way to get him home quickly."

She said his contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence was for a year, not six months, as it was for previous prisoners. And when her husband's time is up, he won't get a pardon and won't be able to go home immediately as the contract "will be automatically extended".

Posts on social media from other Russians whose relatives are serving in Storm V units indicate they too will have to stay on the front line until the end of what Moscow calls its "special military operation".

Prisoners are warned about this when they sign up, and it follows a September 2022 decree by Vladimir Putin which essentially means that when a contract expires it can't actually be terminated and is renewed.

Now the only way for prisoners to get a full release is if they get a state decoration, become incapacitated, reach the maximum age limit, or if the war itself ends.

Instead of a pardon, former prisoners now get what is described as a conditional release at the end of their time with the army. That means if they are found guilty of committing a new crime their sentence will also reflect their previous convictions.

President Putin is also no longer involved in personally signing pardons, which means fewer unwelcome headlines in the media about him pardoning people convicted of murder and sex crimes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68140873