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Russia was previously the sole country widely conscripting prisoners to Ukraine's front lines, a practice Wagner group began in 2022 without changing Russian laws.
Russia ceased polemical short term recruitment of prisoners for the military in September 2023, transitioning to offering standardized long term conscription contracts until mobilization ends, per UK intelligence.
Russia is recruiting as many as 100,000 convicts, including violent criminals, to fight in Ukraine, with some pardoned individuals, such as Vladislav Kanyus, participating in the war after serving minimal sentences for heinous crimes.
Sergei Khadzhikurbanov who was given 20-year prison sentence Russia in 2014 for his role in assassinating the investigative journalist is now pardoned after he fought in Ukraine and remains in Russia's army.
Russia continues relying on Shtorm-Z units manned with convicts for Ukraine offenses, underscoring their low priority for support and orders to attack, according to UK intelligence.