Russia starts recruiting female inmates to fight against Ukraine – Ukraine’s General Staff

Russian forces recruited 50 women in a penal colony on the territory of the temporarily occupied Donetsk Oblast to fight against Ukraine, those were sent to the territory of the Russian Federation for training, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported in its February 4 evening bulletin.

"To replenish its casualties, the adversary is trying to involve convicted women in the fighting. During the week, the occupant forces recruited about 50 people from the women’s correctional colony in Snizhne (the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast). They are also reported to be sent to the territory of the Russian Federation for training," the report reads.

Wagner Group’s prisoner recruitment on decline due to elite rivalry – British Intelligence

Russian financier of Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin started to recruit male convicts for Russia's war against Ukraine around last summer, although there were no reports about recruiting female prisoners until now.

Wagner Group treats convict-recruits as expendable to conserve experienced commanders – British intel

• Russian defence manufacturing sector resorts to using convict labour – British intel
• Russia’s Wagner Group financier Prigozhin continues to rely on ineffective convicts to staff his forces – ISW
• Wagner PMC recruits Russian criminals and convicts for war in Ukraine