Dhe deployment of what are believed to be tens of thousands of prisoners in the ranks of the Wagner mercenary group against the Ukraine testifies in many respects to the cynicism and contempt for human beings of those in power in Moscow.
They are throwing prisoners to the front lines in Ukraine because it causes less resentment in society if they, rather than the breadwinners of families, are killed or maimed. At the same time they make murder, abuse and plunder part of their warfare.
Russia ignores international legal conventions
For that is the inevitable consequence of recruiting in large numbers men who have been imprisoned for violent crimes. If proof were needed that the Russian leadership does not give a damn about the lives of Ukrainians and any international legal conventions, that is another one.
The use of criminals in a private mercenary force will also have serious repercussions in Russia. Those who return reasonably healthy and with the status of war heroes will do their part to ensure that Russia is ruled by force rather than law. The longer the Putin regime engages in this kind of warfare, the harder it will be to restore Russia to a law-abiding country after its inevitable overthrow.
