The difficulty in recruiting new soldiers led Ukraine to resort to its citizens locked in prison. The Army offers prisoners a total sentence by committing for at least one year.
These soldiers are sent in the front line, while the lack of volunteers worries the authorities. “None of us had touched a gun, that’s why we trained,” said Pavlo, former prisoner and now a soldier of the 59th assault brigade separately.
“We are all treated as such”
For the former detainee, the process was simple. “In prison we knew that we could join the army, we have completed a form to fight.”
Sentenced to seven years in prison for hitting a man and stealing his car, Dobriny joined the army when he had two months left. “We are forced to do that, it is our people, our nation, who will do it if it is not?” He adds: “We are all treated as such, we are already prisoners or civilians, we are not afraid of death.”
“The Ukrainian army needs many battalions of this type that deal with the most difficult missions,” said California, head of communications of the 59th separate assault brigade, citing a mission where these soldiers “managed to launch 20 to 30 kilos of explosives in the nose of the Russians.”
A way to “correct your mistakes”
For some former prisoners, these missions are a means to “correct their mistakes.” This is the case of Stanislas, which has been involved in the 59th Brigade. “I want to go back in the right way, I find a little freedom here, I have friends among the other soldiers and it gives me the opportunity to see my wife.”
Responding to a strong Russian military impulse in recent days, Ukraine has attracted dozens of drones during the night from Wednesday to Thursday almost 500 km within the Russian territory, burning a refinery and having three injured near Volgograd (South), according to Russian officials.
Source: BFM TV
