From Crime to Combat: Russia's Controversial Soldier Recruitment
Anton Heraszczenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, shared a post on social media featuring a Russian prisoner. This individual expressed a desire to go to war to "redeem himself" after having previously raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl.
For many months, Russia has frequently enlisted prisoners for combat roles because the deaths of prisoners do not provoke as much outrage in Russian society compared to the losses among professional Russian soldiers or conscripts. For prisoners, this presented a perfect escape opportunity.
The issue with deploying prisoners was their lack of proper training and, most importantly, inadequate equipment. The deal was straightforward. If they managed to survive for six months, they would earn their freedom and wouldn't have to return to prison.
However, the chance to go to war is increasingly appealing to many. One such individual is a man from Krasnoyarsk, who was convicted of raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl.
He was recently sentenced to 21 years in prison. The court convicted junior officer Yevgeny Anisiforov from the Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the murder of a 16-year-old girl in Zheleznogorsk in July 2022.
As reported by the local press, the victim encountered Anisiforov by a lake. The intoxicated 20-year-old struck her several times on the head with a stone, then dragged her body into the bushes and raped her. Believing she was dead, he attempted to hide the body on the shore, covering it with clothes, sand, and gravel. At this point, she was still alive but later died from suffocation.
From prison to the front in Ukraine?
Anisiforov confessed to the murder, stating in court he wished to go to war to "redeem himself." The accused smiled in the courtroom, showing no remorse or the prospect of spending the next years behind bars.
The mother of the murdered 16-year-old voiced concerns that the killer might be released if he is allowed to go to war.
In Russia, a disturbing trend has emerged: murderers and rapists kill without fear of imprisonment because they are sent directly to war, returning later with honors - jokes Anton Heraszczenko.
