Manucharian Grigoriy
According to World Prison Brief data, Russia held approximately 602,000 prisoners in 2018. By late 2023, this number plummeted to historic lows of roughly 249,000, as reported by SWP. While differences in reporting methodology account for some variance, the trend is undeniable: the system has been hollowed out. Ukrainian Intelligence attributes at least 180,000 people to inmate recruitment practices. The same intelligence source indicates payment withholding practices and a casualty rate of nearly 70-80%—with tens of thousands killed in action. Which, compounded, underlines an economic reality: Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) saved more than half a billion USD in 2022-2023, and the Russian Armed Forces gained soldiers who require minimal training and no veteran benefits, healthcare, or pension—a package that represents nearly $12 billion in avoided personnel expenditure. Since then, Ukraine has also implemented similar recruitment practices, with its Shkval Battalion.
“I can say with confidence: we’ve lowered crime in Russia tenfold, and we’ve trained former prisoners better than they trained Pioneers and Little Octobrists during Soviet times,” affirmed Prigozhin in 2023. His approach involved high-casualty, often suicidal, “human wave” tactics, which ensures that a significant portion of the most violent criminals are permanently removed from society. “It’s either them [the prisoners] or your children, decide for yourself,” he would say.
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