In Russian colonies, prisoners are now forced to go to the front under the threat of new sentences
Those who refuse are promised to "raise old cases" and extend their sentences
According to Russian independent media, recruitment of mercenaries for the Wagner Group continues in Russian penal colonies. Convicts are blackmailed with new sentences if they refuse to go to the front. Such cases were recorded in the colonies of the Caucasian republics, Samara and Rostov regions of the Russian Federation.
Details. According to two lawyers and a human rights activist, the convicts were threatened with new criminal cases if they did not agree to go to the front. The detainees in the pre-trial detention center are promised to be released from criminal prosecution if they go to fight against Ukraine.
"Operatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the FSB come and promise to raise old cases from 10-20 years ago, for which the statute of limitations has already expired, and scare them that they will open cases against those who refuse to go to war," says lawyer Yana Helmel.
She explains the new methods of recruitment by the fact that now, unlike in the summer and fall of 2022, much fewer convicts agree to join the Wagner PMC because the colonies receive information about the killed and wounded.
Human rights activist Oksana Asaulenko told the Agency about the same pressure in the colonies of the Perm Territory. She keeps in touch with the mother of a convict who was to spend 5 months behind bars. "She was definitely intimidated there. In the last conversation, he made her understand that he was forced," she said.
According to the lawyers, now the main recruitment is taking place in the colonies of those regions that are close to the Ukrainian border and from where they can be quickly taken to the front by road. Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh, and Rostov regions share land borders with Ukraine.
Background. It was also reported that Gazprom is creating its own private military company.
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