Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russian convicts are being violently press-ganged into the Russian army, according to relatives. They say that hundreds of prisoners have been beaten en masse until they have agreed to sign a military contract. The army "really needs meat", says one relative. ⬇️

2/ At least 50,000 Russian convicts were voluntarily recruited by the Wagner Group and subsequently the Russian Ministry of Defence, with promises of pardons and lucrative payouts. However, many remained behind, particularly after reports of huge numbers of casualties emerged.

3/ As the mother of one man who resisted recruitment says of her son, "He said that he was not a fool to go to his death. Even after the Wagnerites returned six months later (not all of them, of course) with medals and millions."

4/ "Then many money-hungry guys "jerked" [to the war] – they thought that, if they were lucky, they would return the same way, six months later. And most of them got stuck there forever."

5/ Convicts justifiably saw prison as the safer option: "Greedy cats are everywhere, but, you must admit, even these hardened salt [amphetamine] addicts understood that it was better in prison."

6/ "In the fall, they were driven to work – to the industrial shop, to sew military uniforms. Well, they were indignant, but remained indifferent to the [military] contracts."

7/ Now, however, convicts in Russia's Central Federal District, the Volga region and Siberia are reportedly being put under heavy pressure to sign up for the army. A prisoner in the Kemerovo region says:

8/ "The cops have completely gone wild. They beat the phones out of convicts in every possible way. They say that over the last month, beatings have become a mandatory event, like lining up for roll call. Everyone is being dragged to the front indiscriminately.

9/ "The prisoners are turning on each other. If you die today, I'll die tomorrow."

Svetlana, a female former convict, says that convicts' phones have been confiscated en masse in the Volga region, prompting the few remaining phones to be concealed in prisoners' body cavities:

10/ "For a detachment of 80 people, they had 10 phones. Every second prisoner was regularly in touch. Now there are 2 (!) phones left for the entire zone of 10 detachments. They are so careful that they are kept almost in the ass.

11/ "For men in the colonies, this is super unusual – we in the women's colonies managed to completely wean ourselves off communication in a couple of years – for them, there, life is literally in these phones – their whole life outside the colony.

12/ "Against this background, a little more people [went to war] for conditional freedom. Again, there were zero ideological ones the whole time: the main reason was money, the second was that the conditions had somehow worsened [in prison].

13/ "But the most reckless ones still agreed. Then, from the beginning of the year, it was literally hell."

Svetlana says that prisoners have been beaten up indiscriminately to force them to sign contracts:

14/ "They opened the gates and hundreds of “cosmonauts” [helmeted prison guards, riot police and FSB personnel] flew into the colony and started beating everyone up indiscriminately. If you barely put your hand out, they would call you a resister.

15/ "They simply beat the entire colony up with truncheons along the spine. And with broken bones – almost half were taken to the front. That is, some signed contracts right there.

16/ "And some were taken “to Moscow”, and on the way [were told] – well, we’ll get to Lefortovo [FSB headquarters] and cut off your ears. He signs the contract right there."

17/ Such mass beatings are being reported throughout the region, even in prison colonies with a 'light' regime. Svetlana notes that things are likely even worse in 'strict' and 'special regime' colonies, where condictions are much harsher.

18/ Similar events are reported from the Tula region of Siberia, according to relatives: "On Friday, the Federal Penitentiary Service, OMON [riot police], and FSB arrived, including the Federal Penitentiary Service from a neighbouring region. About a hundred people!"

19/ "They beat everyone, wherever they could. They took 15 non-Russians [on a contract] at once – took half of them to Lefortovo, and threatened to turn them into [frame them as] extremists along the way if they didn’t sign the contract.

20/ "They beat the Russians one by one all week – call them to the authorities, take away your phone. If you refuse the contract, they beat you."

21/ The use of mass violence to recruit prisoners appears to be a new development, as convicts have previously been given inducements of money and freedom. It's likely that the new approach is being taken in response to huge casualties reportedly being sustained in Ukraine. /end

Source:
sibreal.org/a/ochen-nuzhno…