Ukraine’s Parliament passed a bill on Wednesday that will allow some convicts to serve in the military in exchange for the possibility of parole at the end of their service, a move aimed at replenishing the army’s depleted ranks after more than two years of war.
The bill must still be signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
It was not immediately clear if he would do so, given the sensitivity of the matter.
The policy echoes a practice used by Russia, which has committed tens of thousands of convicts to the war, allowing it to gain the upper hand in bloody assaults by sheer force of numbers.
Olena Shulyak, the leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, said that the decision to mobilize and parole a prisoner would be made by a court and would require the prisoner’s willingness to join the army.
Persons:
Volodymyr Zelensky, Olena Shulyak, Volodymyr Zelensky’s
Organizations:
People
Locations:
Russia