MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Ukrainian government is planning to draft some 15,000 convicted felons into the country’s armed forces under the recently signed new mobilization law, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Maliuska.
The Ukrainian minister told the newspaper that the initial drive was expected to yield about 5,000 recruits, and that under the best conditions this number could triple.
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According to Maliuska, some 2,872 prisoners have already been released, while the overall number of applicants is at 5,196, with 368 rejected for health reasons.
The first batch of released inmates is already undergoing military training and is expected to be deployed by the end of the summer.
Martial law was introduced in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The next day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. The martial law and mobilization have been extended repeatedly since then. Under martial law, men aged from 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine.
