Peskov: Decrees on the pardon of the prisoners who fought in Ukraine are classified

Decrees of the President of Russia on the pardon of prisoners recruited to participate in the war in Ukraine are classified. This was said by the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov, answering the BBC question about how grounds the prisoners are sent to the war zone.

“I can’t say anything about the decrees. You know that there are open decrees, there are decrees with a secrecy stamp, so I can’t say anything about the decrees,” said Peskov. “But I can really confirm that the whole pardon procedure is carried out in strict accordance with Russian law.”

Since the spring of 2022, information began to appear in the media that the Wagner PMC recruits prisoners in Russian colonies to participate in the war with Ukraine in exchange for pardon. As it is issued legally, has not yet been reported.

Earlier, a member of the Human Rights Council under the President of Russia Eva Merkachev said that formally prisoners are released even before they are taken out of the colonies to participate in the hostilities. She also said that the pardon procedure is a state secret.

At the same time, the founder and sponsor of the "PMC Vagner", close to Vladimir Putin, businessman Evgeny Prigozhin previously said that the convicts were pardoned at the front.

Olga Romanova, head of the Rus Sitting Human Rights, expressed doubt that certificates of liberation and pardon, which the prisoners allegedly receive, may be valid. She emphasized that pardon is a long process that begins with the regional level and ends with the presidential decree, but, according to her information, the regional public chambers did not consider any petitions about pardon.

In early January, Prigozhin said that the first group of Russian prisoners - about 20 people recruited by the Wagner PMC to participate in the war in Ukraine, completed a half -month contract. According to him, all the criminal records were removed from them.

• “Wagner PMC is a Russian unofficial military unit that takes part in ground operations in Syria, Africa and in the war with Ukraine. The company’s fighters are suspected of committing numerous war crimes, including non -judicial executions. The creator and sponsor of PMC Evgeny Prigozhin does not deny them, although he does not recognize in direct words.
• On January 26, the United States announced the Wagner PMC with a transnational criminal organization and imposed sanctions against six individuals and 12 companies, which Washington considers to be associated with the PMC Wagner and Evgeny Prigozhin.