Russia is reportedly dangling the idea of freedom in order to recruit prisoners to fight in the Ukraine war as Moscow struggles to find volunteers to join its military aggression.

Convicts in cramped jail cells were offered promises of freedom and riches as frantic phone calls were made between relatives and inmates considering the idea. Later, prisoners vanish, leaving their loved ones to sift through reports of the wounded arriving in hospitals.

Russia's Recruitment of Prisoners

That type of situation has been playing out in the convict communities across the Russian nation. With a regular army that has been stretched thin after nearly six months of fighting in Ukraine, there is increasing evidence that the Kremlin is showing its dark side by recruiting Russian prisoners to fight in the war.

After a month-long investigation, many inmates were interviewed over Russia's newest recruitment scheme, along with their relatives and friends. Activists believe that hundreds have been approached in dozens of prisons across the country.

The individuals include murderers and drug offenders and some have even been taken from the prison where one high-profile American was jailed in Russia. That individual is Paul Whelan, and his brother David said in a statement in July that ten volunteers had left IK17 in Mordovia for the frontlines in Ukraine, as per CNN.

There were dozens of chat messages between reviewed messages that detail the tempting rewards offered to fight in Ukraine, where the risk of death is high. The latest assessments by the West suggest that up to 75,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured since the beginning of the invasion.

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One prisoner spoke out while inside his cramped jail cell, which had a cat crawling across bunk beds and a fan clamped on top of an old tv. The individual, who was imprisoned for multiple years for drug offenses, spoke on the condition of anonymity and said that Russia accepted murderers but not rapists, pedophiles, extremists, or terrorists.

Fighting in Ukraine

The convict added that Russian authorities offered amnesty or a pardon in six months to prisoners who would be willing to fight in the war. He noted that the offers were made when unidentified men, believed to be part of a private military contractor's firm, came to the prison in the first half of July.

According to the Independent, one U.S. official said, "What we need to understand better is that Russia is prepared to operate over a much longer timeframe than we think typically." This comes as Moscow's advance has slowed down as a result of casualties where 20,000 are thought to have been killed.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that a "large portion" of the new 3rd Army Corps (3 AC) would comprise volunteers from across the nation, who are being offered "lucrative cash bonuses" for deployment to Ukraine. However, Moscow is unlikely to be able to bring the formation to its typical full strength of 15,000 to 20,000 troops.

This is due to the "very limited levels of popular enthusiasm for volunteering for combat in Ukraine." Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far refrained from ordering a full mobilization, though Ukraine has claimed that a covert mobilization is already underway, drawing on reservists, Fortune reported.

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