A significant number of russian military veterans returning from fighting in the illegal invasion of Ukraine have reportedly perpetrated violent crimes against russian civilians, UK Defense Intelligence reports.
Russian media outlet Vertska has reported that approximately 550 civilians within russia have been killed by returning veterans, with a further 465 injured. Over half of the deaths were reportedly caused by some of the 180,000 convicts recruited to russia's armed forces to participate in the war.
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The Wagner Group first recruited convicts for the war in 2022, using almost 50,000 prisoners from russia's jails in total, with inmates being offered commutation of their sentences after six months of service.
Subsequently russia's Ministry of Defense recruited convicts directly from prisons, with russian President Vladimir Putin also signing an October 2024 law which allowed defendants in criminal cases to avoid trial and potential sentencing in exchange for enlisting.
The challenge presented to russian society by tens of thousands of violent offenders with recent and often traumatic combat experience returning to civilian life, particularly having been subject to the brutality of russia's armed forces, is significant, and will likely increase in scale in the medium term. The russian senior leadership highly likely considers the issue to be a matter of growing concern.
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