Moscow/Russia’s chamber of deputies, the Duma, approved this Wednesday a law that expands the category of people with criminal records or facing criminal charges who can sign contracts with the Armed Forces.
In this way, those convicted or accused of drug trafficking, membership in an armed gang or criminal organization and loss of documents that include state secrets, among others, will be able to sign contracts with the Army.
Deputy Minister of Defense Victor Goremkin specified that those included in that category of people who sign contracts with the Army will be part of special units, which will be under the special control of their superiors.
The vice minister of Defense specified that those included in that category will form special units, which will be under the special control of their superiors.
The Russian Army, which has not been able to achieve its objectives in the almost four and a half years of war in Ukraine, has massively recruited people with criminal and prison records since the second year of the war.
The law, which was urgently approved days after the project was sent to the Lower House by the Government, seeks to reverse the downward trend of Russians who want to fight in Ukraine.
The press has been reporting for weeks that the authorities are discussing, according to the Meduza portal, “at all levels” a second mobilization, although they clarify that the decision has not yet been made and, in any case, it will not be announced before the legislative elections in September.
According to Western sources, the Russian Army has already suffered nearly 1.5 million casualties, half a million of which would have fallen on the front.
In this context, independent media reported this Wednesday that the National Guard (Rosguardia) has included in its regulations preparations for threats arising from a mobilization, which in 2022 caused the exile of approximately one million Russians of military age.
The Ministry of Defense would have already prepared training ranges for this. According to Western sources, the Russian Army has already suffered nearly 1.5 million casualties, half a million of which would have fallen on the front.
The successful Ukrainian attacks against the Russian rear have led Russian President Vladimir Putin to decide to intensify the bombing and postpone any negotiations with kyiv until the entire Donbas region has been conquered.
Experts believe that if Moscow wants to expel Ukrainian troops from the territory they currently control in the Donetsk region this year, it urgently needs more men.
