It is the second time a convicted murderer has been released from prison to fight in Ukraine.
Immediately after the full-scale invasion began, Yevgeny Prigogine's Wagner mercenary group began recruiting prisoners from prisons to fight in Ukraine. If the prisoners agreed to join, they would receive an official pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Thousands of rapists, murderers and other criminals, including Ivan Rosomakin, were released from prison and sent to the front lines, where many died during brutal attacks on Ukrainian cities like Bakhmut.
After the failure of Prigogine’s rebellion last year, when thousands of Wagner mercenaries marched on Moscow, the practice of recruiting prisoners from prisons was taken over by the Russian military. The practice was formalized into a federal law in March of this year, and now the recruitment appears to be intensifying.
Under this law, convicted criminals who volunteered for combat will have their remaining sentences suspended while they serve in the military. Some may even receive formal pardons, for example, if they are awarded for “valor” on the battlefield.
The Russian embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment on its practice of releasing dangerous criminals from Ukraine to be used in combat.
Ukraine has also released some prisoners to fight on the front lines, but those convicted of murder or sex crimes are not eligible. Earlier this year, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Vysotska told The Associated Press that up to 3,000 prisoners had been drafted into the military.
The Russian military’s relentless offensive in Ukraine’s Donbas region this year has depleted Moscow’s reserves. The British Ministry of Defense estimates that Russia has lost up to 70,000 men in the two-month campaign, an average of about 1,000 casualties per day.
Regular recruitment efforts are also being stepped up. Last year, the amount of one-time payments for volunteering for combat increased dramatically. In some cases, men were offered up to 1.5 million rubles (£12,360) to join.
The Kremlin's willingness to release and send to war highly dangerous criminals like Rosomakin shows that the Russian military desperately needs more recruits.
“It’s clear we’re short-staffed,” Anna said.
“The authorities do not care at all about peaceful citizens, as long as they allow people who have committed serious crimes to be acquitted and released from prison. It shows that no one can feel safe in Russia.”
Anna says Rosomakin's release means her family is now in dire straits: “If he comes back, he will seek revenge on us, for our efforts to get him sentenced to life in prison.
She said she wanted to leave the country and that other family members would also have to go into hiding.
“It's scary that he's not the only one. Even if he doesn't come back, how many murderers and psychopaths are out there?”
