The United Nations Special Rapporteur revealed that cases of Russian soldiers, who were former prisoners granted amnesty or sentence reductions on the condition of fighting as mercenaries in the Ukraine war, committing various violent crimes after returning home from the battlefield are rapidly increasing.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the 24th (local time), Mariana Kachaorova, the Special Rapporteur, stated at a United Nations Human Rights Council meeting held the previous day, "170,000 criminals convicted in Russia were deployed to the Ukraine war, and a significant number of those who returned after fighting are committing new crimes such as violence, sexual assault, and murder." She explained, "According to local human rights organizations, the recruitment of prisoner mercenaries on the condition of amnesty or sentence reduction began in 2022 when the Ukraine war broke out. Initially, the mercenary company Wagner Group led this effort, but the Ministry of Defense later took over."
She continued, "In March of this year, a bill was passed by the parliament allowing authorities to release convicted prisoners if they sign a contract to enlist with the Ministry of Defense. The recidivism of ex-convicts returning after serving in the Ukraine war is a new trend, with an increase in violence by former mercenaries against women, especially in Russia where laws against domestic violence and sexual assault are weak," she pointed out.
There have also been reports that murder convicts who committed the same crimes again in Russia after participating in the Ukraine war avoided heavy sentences through the prisoner soldier recruitment process. According to the British BBC, a prisoner soldier who was serving a 14-year sentence for murder and participated in the Ukraine war in 2022 committed another murder in Russia last April after completing military service and was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
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