Russia Wants to Further Simplify the Enlistment of Prisoners into the Army
The Russian government has submitted draft laws to the State Duma that expand the list of convicts eligible to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense. If the changes are adopted, even more people serving sentences for various crimes could be recruited to fight in the war against Ukraine.
The Russian government has proposed amending the law to increase the number of prisoners who can sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense and go to war against Ukraine. The corresponding package of bills has already been registered with the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
The documents call for shortening the list of Criminal Code articles under which a criminal record currently bars individuals from signing a contract with the military. If the law is passed, even more convicts will be able to join the army.
Which restrictions are proposed to be lifted
The bills call for removing a number of criminal offenses from the list of restrictions. Specifically, these include cash smuggling, participation in a criminal gang, unlawful interference with the operation of critical infrastructure, violations of industrial safety regulations, unlawful handling of nuclear materials, their theft, smuggling of strategically important goods and narcotic substances, organizing illegal migration, as well as the loss of documents containing state secrets.
At the same time, the Russian authorities do not plan to completely lift the restrictions. They intend to maintain the ban on entering into contracts for individuals convicted of crimes against the sexual integrity of minors, terrorist activities, sabotage, espionage, treason, and a number of other particularly serious crimes.
The recruitment of prisoners has been going on for several years
The practice of enlisting convicts into the Russian army has been in place for several years. In November 2022, Russia authorized the mobilization of individuals with criminal records for most serious crimes, including murder, robbery, theft, and drug trafficking.
In June 2023, the State Duma passed a law allowing contracts to be signed not only with convicted prisoners but also with individuals under investigation. Later, these provisions were extended to include defendants whose cases were still pending in court. In this way, the Russian authorities gradually expanded the pool of people eligible for military service, reducing the number of legal restrictions.
The number of prisoners in Russia has dropped sharply
Amid active recruitment of convicts, the number of people in Russian prisons continues to decline. According to Arkady Gostev, director of the Federal Penitentiary Service, as of May 2026, there were approximately 282,000 inmates remaining in Russian prisons. This is the lowest figure since the early 2000s.
By comparison, at the end of 2021, there were approximately 465,000 people in correctional facilities. Thus, over the course of several years, the number of inmates has fallen by nearly 40%. Gostev himself had previously acknowledged that this trend is influenced by efforts to recruit contract soldiers into the Russian Armed Forces. “Efforts to recruit contract soldiers into the Armed Forces have had a certain impact on the reduction in the number of convicts,” stated the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation.
The bills have yet to be considered
Currently, the government’s initiatives have only been submitted to the State Duma, so they are still awaiting parliamentary review. If lawmakers support the changes, the list of convicts eligible to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense will expand further.
According to Russian authorities, this should help replenish the army’s ranks. At the same time, the practice of enlisting prisoners in the war has repeatedly drawn criticism from human rights activists and international organizations, which have highlighted the risks of coercion, human rights violations, and the use of convicts in combat operations. This is reported by Russian media.
As a reminder, a Moscow court sentenced columnist and journalist Arkady Babchenko in absentia to one and a half years in a general-regime penal colony. The case was brought against him for failing to fulfill his obligations as a so-called “foreign agent.”
In Russia, three captured “Azov” fighters were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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