The State Duma will release participants in the war in Ukraine from punishment for crimes of small and medium gravity

The State Duma has introduced a draft federal law providing for the possibility of liberation of war participants in Ukraine from punishment for crimes of small and medium gravity after awarding or dismissal from service. The document is published on the website of the lower house of the Russian parliament.

The law will apply to:

1. who committed crimes of small or moderate severity until the day of the entry into force of this Federal Law;
2. military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during mobilization, during martial law or wartime and committed crimes until the day of the entry into force of this Federal Law
3. Convicts, whose sentences entered into force before the day of entry into force of this Federal Law.

According to the explanatory note, the control of the behavior of such persons before their release from liability will be carried out by the command of military units.

Against the background of which the bill was introduced

Throughout almost the entire full -scale invasion of Russia, confirmed reports on the recruitment of prisoners of the colonies to the war appeared in Ukraine - with the possibility of release from further serving the sentence. This practice is associated, first of all, with the Wagner PMC, a private army, which is headed by businessman Evgeny Prigozhin close to the Kremlin.

• “Wagnerians” were repeatedly accused of war crimes in Ukraine, and the former prisoners who returned from the war have already committed a number of crimes in Russia. Prigozhin claims that recently it is not possible to recruit convicted in Wagner PMC.

Today's bill was introduced shortly after the order of the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, who obliges all participants in the “volunteer groups” fighting in Ukraine, to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense until July 1. PMC "Wagner", from the point of view of Russian norms, falls under the definition of "volunteer formation", but Prigozhin said that the "Wagnerians" would not sign anything.