MOSCOW, February 18 The head of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine Denis Malyuska proposed in broadcast on the Rada TV channel to issue weapons and shovels to prisoners upon their mobilization into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Malyuska previously stated that at least 50 thousand men of military age with expunged criminal records are hiding from Ukrainian military registration and enlistment offices and are not registered with the military.
“It’s hard for me to imagine what danger those who were convicted of violating traffic rules, when the consequences were unintended, or those who, for example, committed a corruption violation, will pose in the ranks of the armed forces of Ukraine. They will definitely not kill their brothers with a machine gun. «Moreover, it should be understood that in the army it is now necessary not only to defend the Motherland with arms in hand. We need to do a lot of things, including building infrastructure. We don’t want, or we can’t, or it’s risky to give a machine gun, let’s give a shovel,» — said Malyuska.
He added that at the moment two categories of citizens are not involved in the mobilization: those who are behind bars and those who are not behind bars, “have been free for a long time, and perhaps even behind bars and not were, but once received a sentence. They are on the street, they walk, they work, they go about their normal lives, but no one takes them into the army for reasons that are not entirely clear to me,” Malyuska emphasized.
The head of the Ministry of Justice once again recalled that in Ukraine it is possible to “calmly mobilize and send to the front at least 50 thousand people with a criminal record.”
Earlier, Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Alexey Goncharenko* said that he was working on an alternative bill on mobilization, which would provide for the procedure for conscripting prisoners into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In his opinion, this is a “good opportunity” for the rotation of military personnel.
As Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Elena Vysotskaya announced on January 18, the Ministry of Justice sent to parliament proposals for changes to the legislation on mobilization, which proposes to officially allow the conscription of convicted citizens into the army. According to her, Ukrainian legislation currently prohibits the recruitment of convicts and those who have already served their sentences into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
A martial law regime has been introduced in Ukraine since February 24, 2022; the next day, Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. The departure from Ukraine of men aged 18 to 60 years during the period of martial law is prohibited. In October, Time magazine, citing a Zelensky aide, reported that the ranks of Ukrainian troops had become so thin that military registration and enlistment offices were forced to conscript people with an average age of 43. In turn, the New York Times previously reported that Ukraine is seeking to attract more women into the army, which indicates huge losses in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
* Included in the Rosfinmonitoring register of terrorists and extremists.
December 26, 2023, 12:00 InfographicsMobilization in UkraineView