The Russian military has found a way around a law that prohibits conscripts from being sent to a conflict zone by reviving so-called “remedial battalions” used by Soviet forces under dictator Joseph Stalin.

A source in the Ministry of Defense in Moscow told the Russian news channel SOTA that recruits convicted of violating criminal law are sent to such battalions, and those who have not served their time are sent to fight in Ukraine.

We are talking about conscripts, enrolled in the Russian armed forces as part of the still mandatory military service in Russia, and not about those who were taken into the army as part of the “partial mobilization” decreed by Vladimir Putin last year.

At the beginning of April, spring mobilization for military service began in Russia, 147 thousand citizens were called up for military service. All men in Russia must complete one year of military service between the ages of 18 and 27 or equivalent training during higher education.

At the time, numerous Russian defense ministers assured that conscripts would not be sent to fight in Ukraine, noting that Russian legislation prohibits sending them to a conflict zone.

The fate of recruits in correctional battalions does not concern the Russians either

This is reported by independent researcher Chris Owen on his page Twitter that the conscripts sent to the “punitive battalions” are given little attention even in Russia, because military tribunals judge them behind closed doors, and most Russians consider it better to go to war than to be imprisoned.

According to SOTA, about 500 recruits from the total number of 1,000 convicts will be sent to the war and are in correctional battalions.

Owen recalls that the last time such battalions were used by the Russian army was during World War II as a result of Order No. 1. 227.5 signed by Stalin, their soldiers were actually used as “cannon fodder”.

Often sent to “clear” minefields or storm heavily fortified enemy positions, they had an extremely low survival rate. Those who managed to complete the assigned task were then used in no less dangerous missions.

“The Russian military will likely use this apparent loophole to replace its heavy losses in Ukraine. As they grow, she will probably try to use every opportunity she can find to get combat arms from sources that were previously closed,” concludes Chris Owen.

Last fall, it was reported that the Russian military had also resorted to another Stalinist policy: the formation of “blocking battalions” to prevent front-line soldiers from retreating.

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