Ukraine signed law on mobilisation of prisoners
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law envisaging the mobilisation of prisoners into the country's armed forces, TASS reports
A card of the document posted on the Verkhovna Rada website reads that ‘the document was signed by the President’, so it has already come into force.
According to the document, all convicted persons will be subject to mobilisation, with the exception of ‘persons who have committed crimes against the foundations of national security, murderers, rapists, paedophiles and those who have committed fatal accidents under the influence of alcohol or drugs’. The document also outlines a procedure providing for the consent of prisoners to be mobilised and undergo a medical examination. In turn, the unit commanders will have to give their consent to accept such recruits.
The Justice Ministry of Ukraine has long advocated the mobilisation of prisoners, and Minister Denys Malyuska claimed that thousands of such people are ready to join the Ukrainian army: at least 50,000 of them. However, on May 10th, he announced another figure, saying that up to 20,000 prisoners and people with criminal records could join the army.
Ukrainian media previously reported that no more than 10-15 thousand prisoners would be able to be mobilised, but most of them would have to be forcibly sent to the army.
