comment: >
  
  Gotta keep the peasants scared somehow
context: I'm wondering if this is just a propaganda stunt by the Kremlin to recruit more prisoners, by trying to show they're keeping their word.  
  I suspect that not all prisoners who joined the army will be treated this well, and many won't even survive the war to enjoy any freedom. >
  
  Most are getting recruited into Wagner, which has spent a lot of the recent months fighting in WW1 style conditions in Backhmut and taking heavy casualties, so you're probably right in that the survival chances of these prisoners is very low. Especially if the rumours of the Wagner forces using the prisoners as glorified meat shields are anything to go by. >
  
  You could be right. The BBC had this quote “Wagner soldiers openly advance under fire towards us even if they're littering the land with their bodies, even if out of 60 people in their platoon only 20 are left. It's very difficult to hold against such an invasion. We weren't prepared for that, and we're learning now," Commander Skala says.” >
  
  They've killed so many that they're getting tired of killing them. >
  
  I remember seeing an interview with a Ukrainian soldier who was recounting a time that he killed a Russian who stormed their position while riding a bicycle with an AK in a basket. He had other stories of men acting like they were in a movie and getting gunned down while acting like idiots. He said they killed soldiers one after another who were trying to climb a ladder. It's like they didn't even understand what was happening. 
  They laughed for a bit about it all, then everyone got really sad. You could see it in their eyes. War is awful. All the time. >
  
  That that is the "best" outcome for those Ukrainian soldiers is fucking sad. >
  
  War is hell. >
  
  War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. - Abraham Lincoln, Paris, 1867 >
  
  “Shit don’t always be like it is, but sometime it do.” 
  -Niccolò Machiavelli, 1519 >
  
  People don't think it be like it is
  But it do >
  
  
  "They [completed] their contract. They worked with honor, with dignity," Prigozhin told reporters, adding that two-dozen prisoners are among the first group to be pardoned.
  
  The article doesn't identify any specific prisoners by name
  Are they just pardoning their dead bodies to be buried in civilian cemeteries?
  To me, it just seems like a PR stunt in order to get more prisoners to sign on voluntarily >
  
  You have seriously got to wonder though what these "contracts" look like if people are being released now. Screams Propaganda like you said.
  How long could they have possibly served to be released now? Would it be related to how much time you have left on your sentence, because you would think they still need those bodies on the frontline and that this length of service isn't really militarily practicable? Must be the least violent prisoners who signed on and the best story the Kremelin could sell.
  Feels alot like these criminals are cannon fodder between the conscripts coming of age. >
  
  From what I recall from earlier reports, nothing was ever written down. These were entirely verbal agreements, many reports of prisoners never getting paid anything.
  Most immediately die, and the ones that didn't surrender to Ukraine at their first chance, escaped and were the subject of a manhunt.
  This definitely has to be some kind of PR stunt so Prigozhin can play make believe that he still has any residual value left to Putin and/or the Kremlin, hoping desperately to refill the ranks of Wagner by duping prisoners with the idea that some prisoners made it out >
  
  Verbal contracts. Lmao.
  Considering the reports of barrier troops that are needed to control these renegades as well as violent sprees and attacks on commanding officers/executions you have to wonder if this actually a net gain at all for the Russian military.
  And i think I have to agree with regarding the PR from Prigozhin. You have to wonder if Prigozhin's time is running out and why he needs stories like this. In WWII it appears that Shtrafniki squads were much more effective than Wagner is which is no doubt where this idea came from. >
  
  
  Verbal contracts
  
  That just reminded me of an old bit of awful trivia that I once read. In 17th century France, a common sentence handed down for a large number of crimes would be to serve X number of years as a galley slave manning the giant oars.
  It was nearly always the case that your length of sentence handed down by the court was meaningless. Nobody on those ships kept track of things like that. Nor did they care to. It was just kind of understood that any sentence to work the galley oars was a death sentence.
  Your odds of surviving even a full year on the oars were extremely small. Mainly due to horrific sanitary conditions, poor diet, and lack of modern medicine. So you'd row for a few months or whatever, and likely shit yourself to death, or suffer some other similar fate. >
  
  This is the cheery content I'm looking for to help me feel grateful for living today rather than then, despite the generally bleak forecast for human civilization in the coming decades >
  
  If you want some more incentive just look into what any countries punishment for high treason was during the middle ages. Being Hanged, drawn, and quartered (the British punishment) was probably the most brutal I could think of.
  They hung you until near death. Then they would  meticulously disemboweled you on a special wheel that would be used to burn your insides while you watched. You would still be able to feel them burning your guts as well. They would also frequently cut off your "manhood" and burn it along with your guts. Then if you were still alive they would quarter you. That was the punishment for betraying the king/queen.
  Edit: All of this was of course done in front of a cheering crowd. >
  
  I'm from Dublin and live close enough to the church yard where this happened to Robert Emmett in 1801. Hanged, drawn, and quartered. A grisly day's entertainment for / warning to the masses >
  
  But you've inspired enough gratitude in me to help me power through a covid/flu/RSA-ridden January >
  
  Putin: Civilians should join the war.
  Civilians: Too dangerous! We’ll stay home.
  Putin: Now home is dangerous. >
  
  12D chess >
  
  The group is going to be interviewed on the the steps of the Kremlin, first words out of their mouths will be, "The war..." and then it's right back to the front lines. >
  
  In practice Russian's are actually allowed to publicly call it a war, if they are pro-war. >
  
  Even Putin called it a war. >
  
  Of course it's a war, stinky sensitive Ukraine took Mr Putin's special operation too seriously and made it one! 
  - pro war Russians probably >
  
  Step 1.  Offer pardon to pirates, murderers, thieves, and ner-do-wells.
  Step 2. Provide them with military training.
  Step 3. Provide them with 6 months of military experience in a war.
  Step 4. Release said "reformed" veterans into your society.
  Step 5. Profit? >
  
  They're skipping Step 2. and they're maybe getting 1 month out of Step. 3, lol >
  
  And step 2.5 where they are sent to Bakhmut and killed. >
  
  They also kinda skip step 1, since most prisoners are recruited without the pardon. Prygozhin (leader of Wagner mercs) pomised to give prisoners pardon only after 6 months of military service. So they are still prisoners that should be in jail + they are fighting as mercs of forbidden merc organisation. Besides, they sign to Wagner voluntarily, not through conscription or against their will. So they carry full responsibility. This is like bingo, flash royal, full house combo all at once. I don't even know how they get the status of prisoners of war when Ukrainian soldiers capture them. There is like no law that can protect them. >
  
  
  "And what have they achieved? Nothing, no advances, Bakhmut was not taken, there are no results, it turns out that the whole idea is a failure, and now there are a lot of bandits at large,"
  
  Russia will be a world-wide pariah for at least a generation at this point. 
  It's like watching the slow motion destruction of a nation. >
  
  For the second time in my life.  I mean, the first time, when the soviet union collapsed, there was worry about corruption and what would happen with the nukes, but mostly there was hope that something better would grow out of it.  Should have been more worried about the corruption I guess. >
  
  Should have been more worried about Georgia 2008 and Crimea 2014. No guesses here. >
  
  "I hope there are no bandits, rapists and murderers among them"
  What does this woman think they were doing in Ukraine? >
  
  I imagine the only ones that actually get pardoned will be ones the media can brag about being reformed. The rest I don't imagine will survive their stint. >
  
  They only need to be reformed for long enough to do a couple of interviews and photo ops. 
  I don’t doubt that most of them will end up “reenlisting” or pushed out of a window on vacation. >
  
  "Your husband, who was a teacher, is dead. If he had deserted the punishment would have been death or 10 years in prison. Please welcome back to your town the other conscripts who were in prison for 6 years for murder! Watch out, we gave them guns."
  Going well for Russia. >
  
  And they only had to serve 6 months.  Versus a standard 2 year contract for a civilian. Blatantly saying fuck you to the non violent civilian population >
  
  So if you get conscripted it's smarter to murder someone, go to prison, and then only serve 6 months instead of 2 years. >
  
  Now you're onto something there >
  
  This is clearly just a PR stunt but the idea of taking a group of people, with many of whom already have questionable decision making skills, and giving them crippling PTSD while desensitizing them to unimaginable horrors then reintroducing them to society is an interesting social experiment. >
  
  Just goes along with putins speed run to another Russin revolution. >
  
  Most likely all the prisoners on the 6th month are getting a clearly suicide order like "rush to the middle of Bakhmut and capture it by noon". If you retreat after 2/3 of your group are dead - your "contract" is void. If you surrender - void and you'll be murdered if you agree to POW exchange. If you follow the order - you die.
  Why do you think Pirozhkin is so eager to send the prisoners who lost their limbs and even sight back? Because he has no power to grant pardons, and he can no longer kill them at the end of the duty. Injured prisoners are the worst for the regime. If we'll find the truth about the "pardons" it will be from them.
  Or, just thought, the prisoners may actually be "forgiven" before the God. And then shot dead in reward. I can clearly imagine it happening. >
  
  The old 86 Eighty Six treatment >
  
  Isn't being in debt also a crime in Russia? >
  
  Yeah, my brother in law owes taxes, and isn't allowed to leave the country. >
  
  I mean that’s fairly standard for most of the world. >
  
  Up to relatively recently you couldn't buy alcohol in the Faroes unless you had paid your taxes. I think Greenland had something similar. >
  
  Wow that’s interesting. The Faroe Islands are at the very top of my bucket list to visit someday. >
  
  Just pay your taxes >
  
  Well, I don't drink anymore, so I guess it technically doesn't matter haha. Of course, I will though. >
  
  2 dozen….. out of thousands. Odds in Bakhmut suck. >
  
  That's what I was thinking. But also, if, and this is a big IF. This is true and these prisoners are actually being pardoned and sent home. What's the likelihood that these are the injured and maimed that are no longer any use to the military?
  This reads to me like they are making propaganda lemonade from men who can no longer fight lemons. >
  
  It's 100% propaganda. The purpose of recruiting these undesirables was to continuously throw them in to the meat grinder. The only survivors, after 6 months of wave attacks, will be the few who managed to recover from their wounds. So, there isn't much for regular Russian citizens to be angry about. There won't be many of these ingrates making their way back in to society. >
  
  
  "Should we rejoice? Strange, on the contrary, I have anxiety, but what crimes did they commit, for which they were imprisoned? I hope there are no bandits, rapists and murderers among them," a commenter who goes by the name Almira N wrote.
  
  Well, if there weren't before, there definitely will be now they have spent six months in the Russian army. >
  
  Criminals who get military training released into society -- Russia will become even more violent and corrupt. >
  
  They don't get any training. That's a relief right? >
  
  If you made it though several months of active combat, you do get the training. >
  
  "Active Combat" = "getting shelled in a hole" >
  
  Don't know why this is getting any upvotes at all. They're still learning more than you think. >
  
  They get killed on the battlefield, or captured. When returned after an exchange of prisoners, they get executed using a sledgehammer anyway. Not many great options and I'm not sure if any other promises are kept. What an insane situation. >
  
  I don't see the problem. They took desperate criminals out of harsh prisons, sent them into a meatgrinder for six months, and then released them back into society after training  them   to kill and traumatizing  them; what could possibly go wrong? >
  
  Wagner prisoners only have one role, assault infantry. These are the guys taking 80% casualties and doing all the door kicking in bahkmut. 
  More than likely this is a PR stunt but these guys are probably what remains of the early batches of prisoner recruits. You only leave Wagner as a prisoner wounded/dead or after you have survived the contract. 
  Interestingly Prighozin styles himself as someone who “Cares about the boys” in his own insane way. There was a video earlier about him visiting Wagner guys who lost limbs in the hospital and calling them heroes fighting for the mother land unlike those “pretty boy Moscowvites”. He’s got this populist anti-elite angle he’s going for as well, keep an eye on him. >
  
  They are sure being careful about not sending too many guys from Moscow to the front >
  
  ...did the russian public just assume that all the recruited prisoners will end up dead anyways?
  But man this could make for some horrible pr.
  Imagine if one of those prisoners immediatly murder someone again.. >
  
  Wow so the 1990s again? It was like anarchy there after the fall of the USSR. It was a battle royale for all the previously state owned assets and industry. Business owners and bankers were gunned down in the streets. Can Russia be normal for 5 minutes? >
  
  
  Can Russia be normal for 5 minutes? 
  
  Based on the past 1,000 years, no, they cannot. >
  
  Well then arguable this is normal for them. >
  
  
  
  (1) Find violent prisoner
  
  
  (2) Get them to a war, give them weapons, maybe some training
  
  
  (3) Regress cohort population via survival of the fittest 
  
  
  (4) Anticipate psychological damage
  
  
  (5) "Release back into society" >
  
  This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 86%. (I'm a bot)
  
  
  Anger has erupted in Russia as prisoners who were recruited by the Wagner Group six months ago to fight in Ukraine are set to be released back into society.
  The Wagner Group has been recruiting large numbers of male prisoners for Putin's war in Ukraine and hiring in penal colonies in Russia, offering commuted sentences and cash incentives in return for six months of military service.
  In November, a Russian mob boss warned civilians of a "Change of power" in the country, saying that convicts recruited by the Wagner Group for the war in Ukraine will eventually wreak havoc in society.
  
  
  Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Group^#1 Wagner^#2 Ukraine^#3 Russian^#4 convicts^#5 >
  
  A known Russian mob boss was interviewed for his take on the current political course of his country and gets cited in articles now as "Russian mob boss"? Is he supposed to be seen as the prisoners' ex-employer or what? This is so weird. >
  
  It's from Newsweek.  Take it with a fist-sized chunk of rock salt. >
  
  A mob boss is concerned about this. Let that sink in. >
  
  How'd the sink get out? >
  
  Sewer gas igniting in the garbage disposal so it looks like the roof. >
  
  
  "Should we rejoice? Strange, on the contrary, I have anxiety, but what crimes did they commit, for which they were imprisoned? I hope there are no bandits, rapists and murderers among them,"
  
  Was that a concern when they were sent into Ukraine with weapons? >
  
  Putin is a big fan of Dune and is trying to create his own personal Sardaukar. >
  
  Sardaukar were at least competent, Wagner is decidedly less so. >
  
  If the Russian public is so mad about this and the war in general, why aren’t they doing anything about it? >
  
  Fear. Apathy. >
  
  Again, not angry because actual convicted felons were armed and sent off to do some killing in a country not interested in war. Nope, angry because they might come back. >
  
  They blow up hospitals and schools and they get mad about this. Fuck that country so much. >
  
  Yeah, but it's Russian society they're being released
  into, so in actuality it's just a marginally lower security prison. >
  
  Every day in Russia must feel like a day in Russia. >
  
  Only two dozen pardoned? Were there not hundreds, even thousands of prisoners in the initial batch? >
  
  They're probably dead or in POW camps in UA. >
  
  Service guarantees citizenship!
  I’m doing my part! >
  
  Do you want to hear more? >
  
  Yeah Russians  --- THIS is what you're going to get angry about?  Your leader.  Your problem. >
  
  A bunch of criminals with PTSD just back from a war zone after raping Ukrainian women and murdering Ukrainian children. What could go wrong? >
  
  Step 1) Get already borderline people that have been excluded from society because of commited crimes
  Step 2) Send them to a place where they will see/commit/be the subject of the many horrors of war, which will irreversibly scar them psychologically one way or another
  Step 3) Release them back into society without further ado
  It's probably propaganda, but man even if it's not what a great plan, I'm sure there won't be any negative consequences >
  
  It seems like there is "anger" in Russia everyday, and yet the war drags on... >
  
  They completed 'The Running Man' >
  
  so now they are releasesing their child rapists not only on Ukraine, but onto their own citizens >
  
  That's the Russian/Terrorizing way.
  That country is a danger to our civilization. >
  
  Imperial guard penal battalions 💀 >
  
  Anger in russia.
  Yeah, sure >
  
  Yep. Newsweek made a conclusion from several disgruntled comments under Russian news publication. There are at least as many comments praising this over there. >
  
  There’s gonna be whole lotta raping goin on over there >
  
  Hide your kids, hide your wife. >
  
  Hide your husbands cause they raping everyone up in here! >
  
  Jesus I feel old. My first thought was “whoa that video was ages ago! I wonder how many current Redditors haven’t seen it?” >
  
  Probably about Shfifty five >
  
  Boris maybe a raging, violent, drunken child rapist, but he’s a true patriot! >
  
  Why are people here acting as if i ly child rapists are convicts getting mobilized. You can imagine its not that hard to go to prison in Russia for most inane things >
  
  Yeah sure, that’s true. I’m sure there are a few fraudulent insurance claimants in the mix also. Though that doesn’t make for a punchy comment. >
  
  “I hope there are no bandits, rapists and murderers among them”… isn’t that the job description for a Russian soldier in the Ukraine? >
  
  Most of the country full of prisoners >
  
  Service guarantees ~~citizenship~~ pardon! >
  
  Russia keeps finding new ways to be just the worst, most horrible place. >
  
  Try to imagine how desperate a war would have to be for the US to even talk about a draft much less drafting prison inmates. >
  
  This man was a rapist. Now he is a rapist with combat PTSD and he's free to go. Yeah, I'd be pissed about that too. >
  
  Terrible article. Fuck Putin and Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine but the "anger" mentioned in the article's title is literally four negative online comments. Sorry but this kind of lazy, clickbait bullshit doesn't help or inform anyone. >
  
  Or he is trying to create a base of supporters (brown shirts)for when he attempts to take control after Putin’s death. >
  
  "You were supposed to die!" >
  
  How are the prisoners being released when they are still  conscripting innocent civilians? Seems odd. But then again its Russia. >
  
  New York Times podcast yesterday was talking about these guys. One prisoner deserted and escaped but ended up getting his head smashed with a sledgehammer by Wagner on video as a warning to others. >
  
  In russia u get sent to prison over petty crimes.
  Lot of them are probably just poor fellas stealing their daily bread. >
  
  Russians who aren't mad about the war sure are about to be... Ex cons with military training now on the streets, I'm sure they're all reformed from their time in Ukraine committing war crimes. >
  
  Oh, no… anyway, any new pokemons seen lately? >
  
  " I hope there are no bandits, rapists and murderers among them,"
  If they weren`t before being sent to Ukraine, they surely are now. Have fun living with them. >
  
  I'm stunned that Russia lived up to it's agreement and actually released them after their time. I assumed they'd just make up some bs about conditions having changed and leave them at the front indefinitely. >
  
  If any of those people survive and released, they will probably do more damage to russia than Ukraine. >
  
  Hahhahhahaaa what cluster fuck Russia is. >
  
  You know what's better than criminals being released back into society? Criminals with wartime PTSD being released back into society. >
  
  "Oh crap......they actually survived......shit.." >
  
  It comes after Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and founder of the mercenary Wagner Group, announced on Thursday that the first batch of prisoners who participated in the war in Ukraine completed their six-month contracts and have received a pardon.
  All former convicts who were 20, 15, 18, 19 years old, who are behind rape, for the spread of murder, and for all kinds of violence. And now they are free, and they want to eat, they want to earn money and want to feel good. In November, a Russian mob boss warned civilians of a "change of power" in the country, saying that convicts recruited by the Wagner Group for the war in Ukraine will eventually wreak havoc in society. >
  
  Criminals amongst other Criminals. >
  
  Why anger, it's only one out of ten to go back. >
  
  0.5/10, they couldn't find the rest of the body >
  
  Like a drop of water added back to the ocean. >
  
  It's almost like the leader of the country doesn't know what they're doing and didn't think or care enough to think this thru. >
  
  And always, it’s Prigozhin who is behind it all.  He’s the only Russian who can say anything insolent in public against Putin and get away with it repeatedly. Also notice the comments section where Russians are starting to realize that laws are meaningless, by noting that Wagner gets away with all in the open. >
  
  "Damnit, our soldiers survived!" -- Russians.
  Where were the complaints when the prisoners were offered to risk their lives in exchange for their freedom? >
  
  "and then things got worse" -ancient Russian proverb >
  
  What's the problem? They already have criminals in the government anyways. >
  
  “An evil enemy will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes” -- Sun Tzu >
  
  Tbh this is fine if they are rehabilitated, but idk if invading another country counts >
  
  Bruh just stop the war and take the L >
  
  Killing your average citizens and releasing prisoners 👍 >
  
  When the head of state is a criminal what do you expect >
  
  Whats wrong with the that? I thought Russians loved "badasses". Boo fucking hoo >
  
  Hearing about Russia feels like every dystopian scenario came true in that piece of land. >
  
  Here in North America, prisoner’s are released to go to war in inner cities.