The number of prisoners in Russia has fallen to a historic low due to the war
A record drop in the number of convicted prisoners has been recorded in Russia: currently, 308,000 people are being held in penal colonies and pre-trial detention centres.
According to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, this figure is a historic low, as in 2013 the prison population stood at around 700,000 people.
The sharp decline in the prison population began after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when inmates started being widely recruited to the front in exchange for financial payments and pardons. Overall, over four years of war, the number of prisoners in the aggressor state has decreased by 158,000 people.
Statistical data indicate that a significant proportion of those who “disappeared” from penal colonies joined the ranks of Russia’s irreversible losses. According to confirmed data, every ninth dead occupying soldier from the overall list of more than 200,000 servicemen was a recruited prisoner. Despite Russia’s official reports about the “humanisation” of its justice system, human rights advocates and analysts link the rapid emptying of prisons exclusively to the high mortality rate of convicted inmates during combat operations on Ukrainian territory and ongoing waves of mobilisation within the aggressor’s penitentiary system.
Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence reported on the losses among occupiers recruited from among prisoners.
Russian assault units made up of female prisoners have also appeared on the front line.
