Russian authorities are offering criminal suspects the option of having charges dropped if they agree to fight in Ukraine as Vladimir Putin seeks to replenish troops lost on the front lines, according to new reports.
Under laws enacted by the Russian president in June 2023, convicts were entitled to be pardoned or have the remainder of their sentences vacated if they volunteered to participate in the Kremlin’s war machine.
That move came as part of a desperate measure to plug losses left by the infamous Wagner mercenary group, which had launched recruitment drives in penal colonies throughout 2022 but was then denied access when the Ministry of Defense attempted use the tactic for the Russian army itself.
However, this new practice, formalized by legislation in March 2024, allows people accused of crimes to avoid prosecution by agreeing to serve on the front line before being convicted.
Now both prosecution and defense attorneys must inform suspects of this option, and criminal cases are suspended if they enlist.
It comes as Ukrainian intelligence officials declared that thousands of North Korean troops will arrive in Russia’s frontline Kursk region today to fight for Putin.
Russian inmates are filmed being recruited to fight in Ukraine by Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in September 2022.
Russia has long resorted to recruiting prisoners from penal colonies (pictured) to fight in Ukraine, but now suspects who have not been convicted of a crime can choose to sign a military contract and avoid court.
“The video clearly shows North Korean citizens receiving Russian uniforms under the direction of the Russian military,” said Ihor Solovey, director of Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un meet in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024
Efforts by Russian authorities to funnel criminal suspects into their military apparatus were uncovered in a joint investigation between the bbc and the independent Russian media Mediazona.
They initially received a leaked recording of a Russian investigator telling the wife of a man facing a possible six-year prison sentence that “we will close the case” if her husband signed a military contract.
“We are seeing an unprecedented change in the legal system,” Olga Romanova, director of the NGO Russia Behind Bars, told the BBC.
‘The police can now catch a man over the dead body of someone he has just killed. They tighten the handcuffs and then the killer says, “Oh, wait, I want to go on a special military operation,” and they close the criminal case.
Several lawyers have confidentially confirmed that the practice is now widespread, so much so that former Olympic gold medalists have been encouraged to accept such treatment.
Andrey Perlov, 62, has been detained for more than six months accused of embezzling 3 million rubles (£25,000) from a football club.
His family denies the allegations and says Perlov, who won gold in the 50km walk at the 1992 Barcelona Games, is being pressured to sign up for military service in Ukraine in exchange for his case being frozen. and potentially abandoned after the war.
When he refused, he was jailed and banned from seeing his relatives, they say.
The images purportedly show North Korean troops in Russia ahead of their deployment to Ukraine.
Video has surfaced purportedly showing North Korean soldiers in Russia
File image of North Korean soldiers marching during a massive military parade in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung.
Analysts suspect the move is one of many options Putin and Russian authorities are pursuing to avoid resorting to more conscription and risk turning public opinion against the war in Ukraine.
To this end, Putin is also said to have agreed with Kim Jong Un that a contingent of North Korean troops be organized into a special unit to fight alongside the Russians on the front lines.
Russia’s Kursk region is still partially occupied by Ukrainian forces who launched a lightning offensive there earlier this year.
Kim Jong Un’s troops are expected to deploy alongside Russian units to retake the territory.
“We are waiting for the first units in the direction of Kursk,” said Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
It is not yet clear how many will be deployed and how they will be equipped, but Budanov said he expected about 2,600 Pyongyang troops to arrive in Kursk.
“We’ll see in a couple of days,” GUR head Lieutenant General Budanov told US website The War Zone.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told his people in his daily television broadcast that thousands of North Koreans are being prepared for deployment in Putin’s war.
Videos from Russia’s Far East appear to show Kim’s soldiers receiving equipment and training, but there has been no confirmation from the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at a press conference today: “There is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia,” using North Korea’s formal name: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. .
‘What exactly are they doing? It remains to be seen. “These are things we have to figure out,” Austin added.
A rescuer searches for survivors after a Russian attack in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
Troops march in a parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea in Pyongyang
North Korea practices artillery drills at undisclosed location in March
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong attend a meeting in 2018
In a new video, a voice can be heard saying: “North Korea’s handsome allied soldiers have arrived.”
“I hope the war ends now.”
Zelensky said: “We have information about the readiness of two North Korean military units.
“Maybe even two brigades of 6,000 people, and this is a challenge.”
North Korea has called reports of sending troops to Russia nothing more than “baseless rumors.”
But South Korean intelligence says they are being issued fake military IDs, making them appear to be residents of the Siberian regions of Yakutia and Buryatia.
It comes as North Korean ruler Kim Yo Jong’s sister called Ukrainians “bad dogs” and “lunatics” in a tirade against kyiv.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the US is “very close” to finalizing a $20 billion payment to Ukraine that would be paid for with proceeds from frozen Russian assets, Politico reported.
Zelensky also hinted at the possibility of de-escalating the war and ending its “hot phase,” making way for peace talks.
“A decision could be made on energy security,” he said.
‘In other words: we don’t attack their energy infrastructure, they don’t attack ours. Could this lead to the end of the hot phase of the war? I think so.’