General Staff: Russians preparing about 500 previously convicted 'fighters' in occupied Luhansk region
The Russian authorities continue to recruit previously convicted and suspected of terrorist activities to replenish manpower, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.
"In order to replenish losses in manpower, the Russian occupiers continue to actively recruit people with a criminal record, or those against whom criminal cases have been opened, in particular, for terrorism," the General Staff said on Facebook on Thursday.
According to the General Staff, in one of the field camps deployed by the enemy in the temporarily occupied territory of Starobelsky district of Luhansk region, "about 500 such invaders are being trained. It is also known that instead of imprisonment, convicts are offered a contract for military service with participation in hostilities in Ukraine for half a year."
