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General Staff: Russia keeps recruiting convicts to fight against Ukraine.

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Russian private military companies are conscripting inmates from prisons in the city of Ulyanovsk to fight against Ukraine, the General Staff reported on Oct. 27. According to it, most of those who agree to participate in the war are convicted of murder, rape, and selling drugs.

On Oct. 16, President Volodymyr Zelensky said 2,000 Russian prisoners were sent to fight against Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast and promised them immunity from punishment if they surrendered.

"This is how Russia sponsors terror, it looks for killers in prisons and promises them freedom if they kill again," Zelensky said.

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The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

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 (Updated:  )

The transfer would further expand Ukraine's fleet of Western-supplied fighter aircraft, which already includes American F-16s and French Mirage 2000s but remains insufficient to fully defend Ukrainian cities and infrastructure from daily Russian missile and drone attacks

 (Updated:  )

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