Facing shortage of troops, Ukraine trains recruits from prison

Not long ago, these men were locked up for often violent crimes.

Now they’re being trained to kill.

Ukraine is turning criminals into soldiers to try to fill the ranks and hold back the Russians. And they are said to have certain advantages.

All of them served time in prison, including their instructor.

He was a soldier in the Donbas war before being sentenced to eight years for aggravated battery. He served five and a half and got early release in return for rejoining the military.

As a fellow convict, Viktor knows where these recruits come from. As a soldier, he also knows where they’re headed next.

Now he is passing on what he learned fighting in the trenches.

Ihor is just 23. He spent the last five years, his entire adult life, in jail.

Volunteering was never about redeeming himself, he tells us. But about having a purpose in life and protecting others.

We’re interrupted.

It turns out this was an FPV, a Russian suicide drone. This time it didn’t hit.

Using prisoners to fight in the war was long frowned upon here in Ukraine. The Russians began recruiting in prisons early on, many ended up as cannon fodder.

The Ukrainian prisoners are being given the same training as other recruits. Some say, they seem to adapt faster and show more motivation than the average civilian.

Like most soldiers, the men will serve until the end of the war, or until they’re disabled or killed.

We meet with men recovering from combat injuries.

Any support it seems is welcome.

Ivan is a father of five. He’s a veteran of the war in Donbas.

He was jailed for aggravated robbery.

Ruslan was hit by shrapnel and is recovering. He did time for theft and fraud. Now he is fighting.

These convicts are taking big risks for their freedom. But many seem to think it’s a way to leave old mistakes behind and change the course of their lives.
SHOTLIST
- VS Soldiers doing exercises with guns

- SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Viktor, Ukrainian Instructor: “The boys are already hardened by life. There is a concept of what honour and dignity are. Therefore, these guys have a lot of motivation, maybe they go to serve as soldiers, they make good soldiers.”

- VS Soldiers doing exercises with guns while Viktor instructs

- TILT UP Viktor smoking

- UPSOUND (Ukrainian) Viktor, Ukrainian Instructor: “Man, I showed you before, you need to lean on with your helmet.”

- VS Instructor walking around and through the forest and talking to soldiers

- C/U Soldier smoking

- SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Ihor, Ukrainian Recruit: “There is nothing for me to do in prison. I ended up there out of stupidity. I was young, I got into a fight and ended up in prison.”

- MS Soldiers doing exercises with guns

- SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Ihor, Ukrainian Recruit: “Right now I feel ready to go, but I know that this feeling might change on the battlefield.”

- C/U Soldiers in disarray after instructor yells: “Take cover!”

- MS Soldier looking up at the sky

- VS Soldiers taking cover by trees and smoking

- C/U Soldier uniform patch

- MS Soldier walking with a kitten

- SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Soldier: “I call him Lavender. … He is as loyal as a person.”

- C/U Soldier petting kittens

- SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Soldier: “I suffered a concussion and lost 17% of my vision. I am completely deaf in one ear.”

- VS Kittens

- VS Soldiers getting together firewood and starting fire

- SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Ivan, Ukrainian Soldier: “10 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. I served 7 years, had 3 left. I understand that it was not worth it. I wasn’t keeping the right company, didn’t have the right friends.”

- VS Soldiers talking and fidgeting

- SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Ruslan, Ukrainian Soldier: “I have changed, but I don’t even want to talk about what is happening at the front. With such a situation, the Russians advance and advance, and it is not known what will happen. We try to do something, to stop it. You can’t stop all of them, but at least some of them.”

- VS Fire burning and soldiers sitting around it