Our source in the General Staff said that the information about the mass consent of prisoners to serve in the Armed Forces is not true. Currently, most prisoners ignore this option, because they know that they will be formed into assault companies and sent to the hottest areas of the front. In prisons, they believe that they will be made into death squads, and the conditions of service will be worse than those of mobilized Ukrainians.
As of the morning of May 28, 613 prisoners left the prison and joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They are currently undergoing appropriate training and will serve in assault units in the future.
This was announced by the Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska. According to him, these people will undergo several months of training, after which they will serve in assault units.
"These will be monolithic assault units consisting exclusively of persons who have served their sentences, without mixing with other servicemen," the minister noted.
Malyuska added that he is not sure if this is the best option, but relies on the opinion of military experts who make the decision.
"At the moment, we have not yet engaged these units in hostilities, preparations are underway. Perhaps in the future the situation will change and a different decision will be made regarding their mixing with other divisions. For now, these are separate assault units," he emphasized.
Malyuska also supports the mobilization of those convicted of one murder, regardless of whether it is intentional or negligent homicide.
"Our prisoners go to war not to catch butterflies, but to fight. The experience of killing in the past is not always an obstacle to the good performance of military tasks... If we are talking about murders that were not committed with particular cruelty, or they are not murders of two or more people, then often such crimes are committed by persons who are less dangerous to society than those who commit recidivism, such as armed robbery. A person can lose control over his actions at a certain moment, but after the verdict and serving his sentence, his psychological state and control change significantly," Malyuska explained.
It was previously reported that almost 5,000 convicts agreed to the adoption of the law on parole by signing a contract for military service. Also, as of May 24, almost 350 of the 4,300 prisoners who expressed a desire to mobilize have already been released.
