Inmate War Recruitment Craze Forces Russian Prison Closures

Russia has recruited so many prisoners to burnish its manpower in the war in Ukraine that some Russian prisons may need to close soon for lacking prisoners, according to a regional official.

Mark Denisov, the Krasnodar region’s human rights commissioner, told a legislative assembly meeting Thursday that several prisons, including a men's penal colony and correctional colony No. 16 in Areysky and Hromadsk, will need to shutter, according to Kommersant.

“I note one alarming trend: a one-time large reduction in the number of convicts in the conditions of the special military operation prompted someone to report to the top about the need to close penitentiary institutions in order to optimize and save money,” he said. “A number of institutions will be closed this year in our region.”

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