Putin allows conscription of convicted murderers to boost partial mobilisation in Ukraine

In his latest move to increase military personnel, Russian President Vladimir Putin has amended legislation to allow convicted murderers and drug dealers who have served time in prison to become reservists in the ongoing war against Ukraine, BBC reported. While the change of law allows the conscription of former convicts of murder and drug-dealing, it still excludes those convicted of terrorism and sex crimes against minors. 

The amendment comes as Russian soldiers continue to be accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine during the entirety of the war. A report published in September by the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine alleged that the war crimes committed by Russian forces include summary executions of civilians and "sexual gender-based violence" by "some" members of the troops. 

Despite the allegations, Russia has maintained its stand that it has not attacked civilians during the war, and instead, has accused Ukrainian forces of doing so. Meanwhile, the UN commission has said that "two instances of ill-treatment of Russian Federation soldiers by Ukrainian soldiers" have been reported, however, the number of war crime allegations against Russia is "obviously significantly larger".

Russia amps up its partial mobilisation of troops amid war

The conscription of convicts comes a day after the Wagner mercenary group inaugurated its first headquarters in Russia. Earlier in September, the group reportedly urged prisoners to fight in the war against Ukraine in exchange for shortening their jail terms. Despite the Russian law clearly stating that prison sentences cannot be commuted in exchange for military service, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, was filmed telling inmates that "nobody goes back behind bars" if they joined his group and served in the war. 

Recently, Putin revealed that about 49,000 of 300,000 reservists that were enlisted since September had already been deployed to serve in the military operation in Ukraine. Addressing a young crowd of men and women from the All-Russia People's Front, the President said that  "about 50,000" people had volunteered to serve in the war. The move has been heavily scrutinized by the West and Ukraine, with experts believing that Putin’s decision hints at the Russian troops’ inability to perform well on the battlefield.