Advancing Ukrainians In Kursk Include Recruited Convicts "The Best Warriors"

Among the Ukrainian troops advancing through Russia's Kursk oblast are at least one unit of released convicts who applied and were accepted into the Ukrainian army. 

They have acquitted themselves well, have taken some casualties, and feel a renewed sense of purpose. JL

The Economist reports:

Three months ago, the men were in prison. Now they are on their first mission, fighting inside Russia. They have turned out to be the best warriors. The convicts reached the region on August 10th, backing up the strike force of elite soldiers that entered Russia on August 6th. The unit is now fighting farther north of the main incursion. On August 13th the unit lost its first man, a 24-year-old named Mykhailo convicted of robbery. The convicts reckon their new careers have rekindled a sense of purpose. They expect the unexpected—and that there are no limits to where Ukraine’s operations might go next. “I’ve always fancied opening a kebab shop in Moscow."

LAUGHTER CUTS through the crunch of gravel as Senior Lieutenant Nazariy Kishak’s jeep arrives. He is four hours late. “It was a shitstorm,” he says, grinning under his crooked boxer’s nose. “A column with 70 Chechens. All with Saint Peter now.” The enemy had been trying to cross the border just north of his unit’s new entry point into Russia.

Officer Kishak is in charge of one of the most unusual units in Ukraine’s week-old Kursk operation. It is not just his riotous style of command. A quarter of his 200-strong unit are convicts, released under a new scheme that trades sentences for service. Three months ago, the men were in prison. Now they are on their first mission, fighting inside Russia. Officer Kishak says they have turned out to be the best warriors he has seen. On August 13th the unit lost its first man, a 24-year-old named Mykhailo convicted of robbery.

The bearlike commander cackles as he drives along a tree line near the border. “Don’t worry, we aren’t actually near the border,” he kids. “It was ten kilometres back.” A tank fires in the distance. A sharp turn, and your correspondent arrives at the unit’s command post in the Ukrainian forest. The floor is strewn with ashtrays and freshly opened boxes of grenades. Officer Kishak picks up the radio to bark orders to his fighters over the border. The men around him lean in like disciples. Some, just back from Russia, are feverishly consuming bread and mayonnaise.

Gena, aka “Wikipedia”, is a grey-haired 47-year-old convicted in 2021 for murder and armed robbery. He says the booze got the better of him that day. He was turned away trying to buy more beer, a guard tried to grab his weapon and the gun went off. “I went home, went to bed, and a welcome committee was waiting for me when I woke up.” His three and a half years in prison, he says, gave him a calmness that helped him when he crossed into Russia. “Not that I saw much that was terrible. Just a Russian without his upper half. The lower half there, but the upper half gone. Nothing special.”

 

Ukraine has been emboldened by its march into Russian territory. The advance has slowed in recent days: Ukrainian forces may be solidifying supply lines, or may be unsure what comes next. Officer Kishak and his convicts reached the region on August 10th, backing up the strike force of elite soldiers that entered Russia on August 6th. The unit is now fighting farther north of the main incursion at Sudzha.

Things are hotting up. But Officer Kishak says Ukraine probably lacks the forces to open a new axis of attack in the area. “Sudzha remains the priority. We don’t have troops to throw around.” Severe manpower shortages were, after all, the main reason Ukraine decided in May to follow Russia’s lead and let convicts serve.

Sasha Bakhmut, a 55-year-old from central Ukraine, was one of the prisoners who had argued for the new law. He was jailed in late 2021 for shooting a man. When the war broke out three months later, he asked a court to be permitted to join the front line. The chance finally came to fight—in Russia. “It’s hard to describe the feeling. Just overwhelming. We got here. And not only got here, but actually crossed the border. We showed we are a brave nation.”

The commander says the early success of the experiment shows it is right to give people a second chance. He makes only two exceptions: rapists and Vladimir Putin. There is a comprehensive vetting process, but once the soldier is in, they are in. The convicts have the same rights as ordinary soldiers. The commander, who comes from a family of warriors says he offers tough love. “Sometimes you need to shout, or to order someone to do exercise, but you do this to keep them alive.”

The convicts reckon their new careers have rekindled a sense of purpose. Wikipedia says he is applying his computing degree to drones and electronic warfare. Officer Kishak advises his men to expect the unexpected—and that there are no limits to where Ukraine’s operations might go next. “I’ve always fancied opening a kebab shop in Moscow.