[imagesource:here]

Convicted criminals are playing a sizeable role in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

A commander of the Wagner Group of mercenaries financed by Putin’s ally Yevgeny Prigozhin described how prisoners “are used as cannon fodder, like meat”.

It is reported that in October last year, 20 000 Russian prisoners had been sent to war in Ukraine and that Wagner had recruited from penal colonies in the European part of Russia as well as in the Ural region, according to Russian human rights activist Olga Romanova.

But the criminals also get something out of this arrangement: a little freedom.

According to Newsweek, Russian authorities are reportedly offering to waive their sentences if they survive six months on the frontline.

Someone hoping to be a part of this criminal intake to fight in Ukraine for Putin is a Russian serial killer nicknamed “the Werewolf” and the “Angarsk Maniac”.

Mikhail Popkov (pictured above) has been serving two life sentences for his brutal crimes – the killing of over 8o women:

[The 58-year-old] ex-policeman [sic] was convicted in 2015 of the sexual assault and murder of dozens of women between 1992 and 2010 in Angarsk and Irkutsk, in Siberia, and Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East.

In 2018, he confessed to further crimes taking the total number of victims to 78, although he has confessed to and is suspected of at least 83 killings.

Popkov said he would like to be part of the scheme, telling the Vesti news channel that his dream is “to get into the army”:

“Realistically, how would I manage to live through January and February, for me the coldest frosts are the worst,” he said, adding he “would not hesitate” to join Russian forces in Ukraine.

“Taking into consideration my military specialization, I think it is in quite high demand now,” he said although admitted he would need to learn new skills.

“Even though I have been in prison for 10 years, I don’t think it would be so hard to learn new skills,” added Popkov, who was arrested in 2012.

What his ” military experience” entails is still a question as reports say that he has only ever worked in the police and as a security guard.

He did say that he understands how fighting in Ukraine “is not a computer game” and that “these are not fiction books about superheroes”.

One wishes he was that delusional though because it would be a nightmare if he gets loose after surviving the minimum of six months on the frontline.

[source:newsweek]