Nearly 350 Ukrainian prisoners have been released under a new law that allows them to serve in exchange for the possibility of parole, the New York Times reported, citing Ukrainian Justice Minister Denis Malyuska.
Ukraine has begun releasing prisoners to serve in the army as part of a wider effort to rebuild a military that has been depleted by more than two years of fighting, according to published information.
“Ukraine has been in urgent need of soldiers since Russia opened a front in the north-east of the country, near Kharkiv, a fortnight ago. This has stretched the forces and forced the redeployment of soldiers,” the newspaper reported.
According to Denis Malyuska, Ukrainian courts must approve every prisoner’s application for conscription; most of the 4,300 petitions submitted so far are already being considered. The justice minister emphasised that up to 20,000 such applicants, including people who were in pre-trial detention, could be recruited for service. Nearly 350 people have been paroled so far.
“The shortage of soldiers – of course, the difficulty of conscripting ordinary citizens – these are the main reasons for the adoption of the law”, – the New York Times quoted the official as saying.
We will remind, earlier the head of the French party “Patriots” Florian Philippot spoke in favour of a complete withdrawal of support for Ukraine because of its collapse on the front.
