Russians start recruiting prisoners convicted before 2014 in ‘LPR/DPR’

"As it became known from underground sources, the occupation administration of the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions ordered local collaborators to provide lists of prisoners who were convicted under Ukrainian law and have been serving their sentences since 2014 or earlier. The enemy has already begun to recruit these prisoners to the ranks of the Russian occupation forces, manipulating their feelings of resentment towards the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine," the National Resistance Center reports.

At the same time, in case of refusal to join the troops, the prisoners are threatened with stricter treatment by prison administrations.

"Forcing Ukrainian citizens to serve in the ranks of the occupation forces is a violation of international law," the Center said, stressing that every occupier guilty of crimes against the Ukrainian nation will be held accountable.