The May Intimidate Population of Seized Territories: Zhdanov Explained Why Russian Was Sending Convicts to War

Russian military leadership recruits convicts, who are of limited value on the battlefield, but may be successfully used to intimidate population of the seized territories, Oleh Zhdanov, the military expert believes.

"Russia continues to send prisoners to the war in Ukraine. Although these people are of limited value on the battlefield, they may professionally kill and intimidate civilian population of the seized territories”, he noted.

According to Zhdanov, the only benefit, the former convicts may offer to Russian military, is no need to overcome a psychological barrier for murder. People convicted for grievous criminal offences have no problems with killing people.

"Unless they have practical military experience, the convicts are essentially useless on the battlefield. They have no training, so everything depends on a person’s background before conviction, past military experience, et cetera. Even if some of them once served in the military, they’ve spent many years behind bars, and it’s a totally different life with totally different skills. By the way, there are some reports that they are mostly used in the Russian National Guard system to allegedly “maintain law and order” in the seized territories. Here they would be very helpful for Russians thanks to their unique experience of killing, abusing and torturing people. Still, they are not the infantry capable of consistently and proficiently engage in combat”, Zhdanov said.

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