Local media in Rostov-on-Don reported that on May 9, as its military was celebrating Victory Day, 10 former prisoners who were released to serve in Russia’s armed forces took the opportunity to abscond from the training camp, close to the border with Ukraine, where they were being readied for deployment on the “special military operation” – the term Moscow still uses for its war on Ukraine.
The news site 161.RU said that its sources in Russia’s security forces had confirmed the reports on Tuesday. The men’s absence was noted early on Friday morning as they failed to turn up to draw uniforms in advance of the planned Victory Day military parade.
None of the men are believed to have been armed, and four were said to have been almost immediately detained as they tried to leave the Rostov region. Russian military authorities said they knew the whereabouts of two others, who were likely to be apprehended in the near future. The remaining four men are still at large, and their whereabouts are not immediately known.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin initiated a law in 2023 that allowed for convicted criminals to be released to fight in the war in Ukraine and to receive an amnesty for their crimes in exchange for signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense. The scheme was the brainchild of Yevgeny Prigozhin who recruited convicts for his Wagner mercenary group in late 2022 before the Russian authorities took over.
Initially, this was granted after only six months service, but as the war dragged on, the commitment for military service was extended to last as long as hostilities continued. Last September, the option was extended to include those charged with crimes but awaiting hearings or sentencing.
The Rostov deserters had all reportedly been serving prison sentences for serious crimes, including murder, rape, serious assaults and drug trafficking before being recruited into the Russian armed forces.
Despite no official figures for how many inmates signed up to serve in exchange for a pardon, there are reports that many are deployed to so-called Storm assault units, where the casualty rates are extremely high and many poorly trained recruits are killed in action within days of reaching the front line.