Russia Sends Prisoners to War Zone, Eventually Deploys 'Female Prisoners' as Well

The Times Cites Ukrainian Military Report

There are claims that Russia, which had deployed male prisoners as mercenaries in the Ukraine war, is now sending female prisoners to the battlefield as well.

On the 14th (local time), the British newspaper The Times cited the Ukrainian military, reporting, "Last week, a train transporting inmates was spotted heading towards the Donetsk region. One carriage was carrying female prisoners."

It has been confirmed that Russia, which deployed male prisoners as mercenaries in the Ukraine war, has now sent female prisoners to the battlefield as well.
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

In Bakhmut, a city in eastern Donetsk occupied by Russian forces, Ukraine and Russia are currently engaged in what is said to be the fiercest battle since World War II.

Olga Romanova, founder of the Russian prisoner rights group "Russia Behind Bars," also explained that Russia began recruiting female inmates from the end of last year.

According to Romanova, about 100 female prisoners were sent from prisons in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia to Ukraine. However, their exact deployment locations remain unconfirmed.

Earlier, the Ukrainian military revealed that last month Russia sent 50 female prisoners from a prison in Snizhne, Donetsk, to Russia for military training.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, stated in December last year that he asked female prisoners in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, to serve as nurses or communications personnel on the battlefield, adding, "There is resistance, but we will do it."

Wagner Group reportedly recruited about 40,000 prisoners serving sentences in Russian prisons as mercenaries and deployed them in combat. Thousands of these prisoner mercenaries have died on the battlefield, with most reportedly dying within hours of being sent to the front lines.

Meanwhile, Prigozhin announced last month a sudden halt to the recruitment of prisoner mercenaries. However, the U.S. think tank Institute for the Study of War explained that the Russian Ministry of Defense, which is in opposition to Prigozhin, has taken over the recruitment of prisoners.