We've been hearing announcements out of Kyiv for some time now indicating that this new policy was going to be implemented, but now it has officially begun. Ukraine is sending army recruiters around to various prisons and offering certain qualifying inmates an opportunity to have their sentences commuted provided they immediately enlist in the military and go off to fight the Russian army. The country has already expanded its draft program by expanding the age requirements for eligibility and lowering required physical standards, but they are still facing a significant shortage of troops because of the attrition being experienced on the front lines. However, not all of the eligible prisoners are as eager to take advantage of this offer as the government probably hoped. (Associated Press)

At a rural penal colony in southeast Ukraine, several convicts stand assembled under barbed wire to hear an army recruiter offer them a shot at parole. In return, they must join the grueling fight against Russia.

“You can put an end to this and start a new life,” said the recruiter, a member of a volunteer assault battalion. “The main thing is your will, because you are going to defend the motherland. You won’t succeed at 50%, you have to give 100% of yourself, even 150%.”

Ukraine is expanding the draft to cope with acute battlefield shortages more than two years into fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion. And its recruiting efforts have turned, for the first time, to the country’s prison population.

The program "unofficially" kicked off last month and Ukraine saw some early success. They report that roughly 3,000 prisoners volunteered and were sent to join army units after receiving basic training. But that is still far short of the 27,000 eligible prisoners that they were hoping to enlist. Russia is continuing to advance on the eastern front and doing significant damage to not only Ukraine's military but also to the country's infrastructure using next-generation glide bombs. 

The recruiting campaign is attempting to put a positive spin on all of this. They are telling eligible prisoners that this is their opportunity to "return home as a hero and not as a former prisoner." Some potential recruits have been hesitant to sign up because of the glaring possibility that their heroic return home could take place with them appearing in a flag-draped coffin. Others were more enthusiastic. The AP spoke with one prisoner named Ernest Volvach who is currently serving a two-year sentence for robbery and working in the prison cafeteria. He claims he had been wanting an opportunity to do something for his country and he has signed up to enlist.

The recruitment program is not open to prisoners who have been convicted of rape, sexual assault, or murdering two or more people. Apparently you can get a pass for murdering one person. I won't mock that eligibility category too harshly because, after all, these men are being recruited to go kill Russians. Convicts are also ineligible if they have committed "crimes against Ukraine's national security."

What these recruits' prospects will look like when they reach the front lines remains unknown. The basic training they are receiving initially is being described as "minimal," with the rest of the training set to take place after they join their assigned units. If they are sent to the eastern front (as most of them will be), they are probably more at risk of being taken out by a drone or a rocket than they are of dying in direct combat with Russia's forces. It's also unclear how welcoming the Ukrainian field commenders will be toward new recruits obtained in this fashion. It's always preferable to lead men who volunteered out of a sense of duty to their nation than someone who is doing it just be sprung from behind bars. But under the current circumstances, I imagine they will just have to take whoever they can get.