Vladimir Putin’s policy of sending men convicted of serious crimes to fight against Ukraine risks backfiring, with a recent killing spree by one of them highlighting the risks of the nutty plan.
Mad Vlad has raided jails across Russia in a bid to boost his fighting capacity as his disastrous invasion of Ukraine continues, more than two years after it began – and it could all end in a bloodbath.
Pro-Russian military bloggers have reported that Sgt Yuri Galushko, 57, killed six soldiers from the howitzer artillery battalion of the 10th Tank Regiment, before fleeing the scene.
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One of the furious bloggers wrote: "It seems this animal just shot the artillery division control with a weapon somewhere in the Aleksandrovka area. Perhaps he will try to cross to the [Ukrainian] side.”
It’s thought Galushko was actually originally from Kharkiv, in Ukraine, but he has a Russian passport. It was when he moved to Russia that he got into trouble, and was thrown in the slammer, reports Express.
He was released from a penal colony in February after he signed a military contract with Putin’s barbaric forces.
Actions like those of Galushko risk fomenting a collapse of discipline within the ranks.
The depths to which the Russian military’s quality control has slumped was highlighted last year when the government announced a crazy slump in the number of inmates behind bars.
Before Putin invaded Ukraine there were about 420,000 convicts in prison, but that figure fell to just 266,000 last year – and much of that drop is likely to be down to the sheer numbers of crooks who’ve been conscripted.
Murderers and rapists have been released in return for fighting for Russia. It has resulted in ill-disciplined and poorly-trained recruits being sent to the frontline.
Putin assumed he’d win the war against Ukraine within a few hours. But more than two years after his forces went in, they continue to suffer losses as the brave Ukrainian resistance shows no sign of breaking.
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