By Emmanuel Nduka
In a desperate move to address manpower shortfall on the frontlines, the Parliament in Ukraine on Wednesday passed a bill that would enable some prisoners fight in the Armed Forces.
Kyiv appeared to have made a U-turn after long opposing and criticizing the same measure adopted by Moscow in mobilizing prisoners to fill its ranks, with the legislation needing to be signed by the chairperson of parliament — the Verkhovna Rada — and President Volodymyr Zelensky before it becomes enforceable.
“The parliament has voted ‘yes’. The draft law opens the possibility for certain categories of prisoners who expressed a desire to defend their country to join the Defence Forces,” MP Olena Shuliak, head of Zelensky’s party, said in a Facebook post.
When the legislation comes into force, mobilization would be voluntary and only open to certain categories of prisoners, among which would be those found guilty of sexual violence, killing two or more people, serious corruption and former high-ranking officials, Shuliak said.
Only prisoners with under three years left on their sentence can apply, she added. Those prisoners who are mobilized are granted parole rather than a pardon.
The Kremlin has recruited prisoners to serve on the front lines since the first days of its invasion, initially offering presidential pardons for six months’ service.
The practice was spearheaded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was filmed touring Russian prisoners to recruit foot soldiers for his Wagner paramilitary group.
Now more than two years into the war, Kyiv is grappling with how to recruit enough soldiers to repel an intensification of Russian attacks on the front lines.
Ukraine has recently toughened measures against draft dodgers, and has also lowered the age at which men can be drafted from 27 to 25 years.
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