Thousands Of Ukrainian Convicts Hit The Frontlines As War With Russia Drags On 

Ukraine released thousands of prisoners to fight on the frontlines of the war with Russia as the country’s military struggles with low manpower.

Inmates are being offered a choice: stay in prison and serve out their sentences or join the fight against Russia in exchange for the possibility of parole, according to The Associated Press. The policy is a first for Ukraine as the country double-times its efforts to bring more people into the military in the ongoing fight against Russia, which has a considerably higher manpower advantage.

More than 3,000 prisoners have already taken the deal and have been released into the military, according to the AP. Roughly 27,000 inmates could be eligible for release, prisoners who have been convicted of sexual assault, two or more murders, or crimes against the state’s national security are ineligible.

“You can put an end to this and start a new life,” a Ukrainian military recruiter told prisoners at a penal colony in southern Ukraine, according to an AP reporter present. “The main thing is your will, because you are going to defend the motherland. You won’t succeed at 50%, you have to give 100% of yourself, even 150%.”

Once they are screened and deemed fit for service, inmates are sent to basic training camps to learn combat and weapons fundamentals, according to the AP.  Additional training is conducted once the inmates are placed in individual military units.

“A lot of the motivation comes from (inmates) wanting to return home a hero, and not to return home from prison,” Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Olena Vysotska told the AP.

Russia has enacted a similar policy