The Russian State Duma has expanded the conscription of convicts for the war against Ukraine
The State Duma of the Russian Federation—an aggressor state—has expanded the list of convicted individuals who will be allowed to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense to serve during mobilization, martial law, or wartime. Lawmakers passed the bill on July 22 in a single reading and as a whole, according to “Ukrainska Pravda,” citing “Interfax” and The Moscow Times.
In particular, individuals convicted of banditry, participation in an organized criminal group, drug smuggling, and organizing illegal migration will be eligible to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry.
The list also includes those convicted of the illegal handling or theft of nuclear materials, as well as the smuggling of weapons, ammunition, explosives, radioactive substances, and pathogenic substances. Separately mentioned are individuals convicted of losing documents containing state secrets.
At the same time, the State Duma adopted amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. These amendments provide for the exemption of such individuals from criminal liability in connection with the signing of a contract or the performance of military service.
Andrei Kolesnik, a member of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, stated that those convicted should allegedly be “given a chance to wash away the shame with blood.” According to him, they may be assigned to assault units. He also said that recruits would undergo “a certain screening process” and acknowledged that “not everyone will return from there.”
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Goremykin stated that expanding the list would make it possible to increase the pool of potential candidates. He claimed that such soldiers are planned to be kept in separate units and not mixed with contract soldiers who have no criminal records. The Moscow Times links this decision to a slowdown in the recruitment of contract soldiers and significant losses suffered by the Russian army in the war against Ukraine.
