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Russia’s defense sector “highly likely” relies on convict labor to meet war-time production demands, the U.K Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update on Jan. 13.
With a prison population reaching over 400,000 inmates due to one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world, Russia’s Federal Penal Service provides a “unique human resource” to Russian leaders to use when volunteers remain in short supply, according to the report.
Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), Russia’s largest tank manufacturer, told local media that it would employ 250 prisoners in November 2022. Convict labor will likely be in demand from manufacturers of low-tech weaponry under intense pressure from the Kremlin to increase production.
Ukraine war latest: Russia sends conscripts in combat zones as Ukrainian military conducts counterattacks in Soledar
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