🗣 Russia has started releasing female prison inmates to join the war in Ukraine, — The New York Times

⏺ Russia released a group of women from a prison in late May to join the fighting in Ukraine, according to two former inmates who maintain contact with those still there, potentially signaling a new phase in the Kremlin’s use of criminals in its war effort

They are offered a salary of $2,000 and a one-year contract. Among the specialties: a sapper, a combat medic, and a front-line radio operator. In only one of the prisons of St. Petersburg, 40 women out of 400 agreed to go to the front