Ukraine war: From the prison cell to the frontline, convicts called on to fight

Published

5 months ago

January 29, 2025

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A few weeks ago, the Ukrainian soldier was crammed in a prison cell with seven other inmates, serving time for accidentally killing his friend in a car crash.

Now, Valery, 28, is among thousands of convicts serving their country on the frontline against Russia after being freed from jail under a scheme to bolster Ukraine’s depleted infantry ranks.

Asked what it was like to be on the battlefield instead of behind bars, he said: “My motivation was mainly to defend Ukraine, my family, and my loved ones…

“The feeling when you leave prison and realise that you’re free again is indescribable. Freedom is, after all, freedom. It was very tough back there [in jail], and when I came out here, everything was new, everything was great. It felt like I was born again.”

Some 6,800 criminals have been freed from jails across Ukraine to join the armed forces since the government first unveiled its prisoner recruitment drive last May. By contrast, Russia has long been sending its felons to the frontline.

Not every Ukrainian inmate can apply for release. Those convicted of the most serious offences, including the murder of two or more people, sexual crimes and treason, are barred.

All eligible volunteers must pass medical checks and have their application approved by a court. They sign a contract, agreeing to fight without a holiday for a year and to serve until the end of the war. At that point, they will immediately be granted parole.

Sky News met a group of criminals – convicted of a range of offences, from theft to thuggery – who are fighting to help hold onto a chunk of Russian territory that Ukraine captured last summer.

They are part of a regular armed forces brigade, but their unit – named Shkval, which means squall in English – of about 100 felons operates separately from everyone else.

Valery, whose callsign is “Hacker”, and three other recently-released prisoners, are learning how to fly drones.

“I’ve always been fascinated by drones,” Valery said, speaking as he handled a control panel, buzzing a rotary aircraft around a frozen field in northeastern Ukraine.

Joining ‘drone’ brigade is lucky break

It is a lucky break for him as most freed criminals are channelled straight into the infantry of whichever brigade they join.

This is one of the most dangerous jobs on the battlefield, with soldiers ordered to storm enemy positions or placed at the very front of defensive lines.

In 129 Brigade, however, there is also the opportunity for prisoners with the potential to learn other skills, such as how to operate attack and surveillance drones.

Yevhen, 33, had been part way into a seven-year sentence for hitting someone in the neck during a fight when he opted to leave prison and join the military last month.

He has just started learning how to operate drones, saying: “I’m helping Ukraine, and that’s my duty. I could have just sat idly in prison, but here, I can be of more use.”

The brigade’s prisoner unit is commanded by a tall, broad man with a big personality, who – unlike the men he leads – is not a convict. A businessman and former basketball player, he has been fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion since it began.

Anatoly, 55, said the influx of criminals is a welcome resource to ease up pressure on the frontline.

“These guys are now giving people like us – well, not us, since we’re tireless – but other soldiers, like shooters, a chance to rest, breathe, and rotate,” he said sitting in a makeshift office in a building that was once a school but has become a base for his men when they are not fighting inside Russia’s Kursk region.

We don’t call them criminals

He said lots of prisoners want to join his team, predicting he would have enough to form a battalion of 500 men by the end of February.

“They want to come to us because our approach is more proper-military,” Anatoly said.

“It’s not just about handing out rifles for three days and sending them off [to fight]. We run a full [training] cycle, and we personally carry out combat training with each soldier.”

He also forbids anyone in the wider brigade to use terms such as “convict”, “jailbird” or “criminal” when referring to his soldiers once they have put on a uniform and vowed to serve.

It is dangerous work.

Anatoly described how his men have been part of Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk since it began in August. In that time, he has lost 17 soldiers, with another 30 wounded.

He praised their heroism, despite having criminal records, singling out one 19-year-old who had been in an orphanage, found himself in trouble with the law and ended up in prison.

Anatoly said this young man, callsign Ninja, had taken out nine highly-trained Russian soldiers before dying in an artillery strike last December.

While Ninja was an example of the courage shown by many of the former prisoners under his command, Anatoly said there have also been some disappointments.

He has sent about 10 convicts back to jail for breaking the rules, including one man who tried to flee multiple times and stole a car.

“That’s when you realise that some people are beyond help, they have no place here.”

Extra time for breaking the rules

Under the prisoner release contract, anyone who violates the deal will be returned to prison and receive a further ten years’ jail time on top of whatever sentence they were already doing.

In a separate building on the base, a group of newly arrived convicts receive medical training for the kinds of injuries they may experience in combat.

Denys, 43, listened intently.

He had been serving time for deserting his previous army unit.

“I’ve made amends and decided this [re-joining the armed forces] was the right thing to do,” he said.

Asked how it felt to be training for battle just three days after leaving his prison cell. Denys said: “War. It doesn’t feel great, but it has to be done.”

World

Trump applying ‘heavy pressure’ on Netanyahu to end war in Gaza

Published

7 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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Trump applying 'heavy pressure' on Netanyahu to end war in Gaza

US President Donald Trump is putting “heavy” pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza, two sources close to the ceasefire negotiations have told Sky News.

One US source said: “The US pressure on Israel has begun, and tonight it will be heavy.”

The source, who is not authorised to speak publicly, was referring to the White House dinner on Monday night between Trump and Netanyahu.

A second Middle Eastern diplomatic source agreed that the American pressure on Israel would be intense.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington DC in the early hours of Monday morning and held meetings on Monday with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser.

The Israeli prime minister plans to be in Washington until Thursday with meetings on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Trump has made clear his desire to bring the Gaza conflict to an end.

However, he has never articulated how a lasting peace, which would satisfy both the Israelis and Palestinians, could be achieved.

His varying comments about ownership of Gaza, moving Palestinians out of the territory and permanent resettlement, have presented a confusing policy.

Situation for Palestinians worse than ever

Over the coming days, we will see the extent to which Trump demands that Netanyahu accepts the current Gaza ceasefire deal, even if it falls short of Israel’s war aims – the elimination of Hamas.

The strategic objective to permanently remove Hamas seems always to have been impossible. Hamas as an entity was the extreme consequence of the Israeli occupation.

The Palestinians’ challenge has not gone away, and the situation for Palestinians now is worse than it has ever been in Gaza and also the West Bank. It is not clear how Trump plans to square that circle.

Trump’s oft-repeated desire to “stop the killing” is sincere. Those close to him often emphasise this. He is also looking to cement his legacy as a peacemaker. He genuinely craves the Nobel Peace Prize.

In this context, the complexities of conflicts – in Ukraine or Gaza – are often of secondary importance to the president.

If Netanyahu can be persuaded to end the war, what would he need?

The hostages back – for sure. That would require agreement from Hamas. They would only agree to this if they have guarantees on Gaza’s future and their own future. More circles to square.

Was White House dinner a key moment?

The Monday night dinner could have been a key moment for the Middle East. Two powerful men in the Blue Room of the White House, deciding the direction of the region.

Will it be seen as the moment the region was remoulded? But to whose benefit?

Trump is a dealmaker with an eye on the prize. But Netanyahu is a political master; they don’t call him “the magician” for nothing.

Trump makes decisions instinctively. He can shift position quickly and often listens to the last person in the room. Right now – that person is Netanyahu.

Gaza is one part of a jigsaw of challenges, which could become opportunities.

Diplomatic normalisation between Israel and the Arab world is a prize for Trump and could genuinely secure him the Nobel Peace Prize.

But without the Gaza piece, the jigsaw is incomplete.

World

IDF presence in Gaza ‘only issue’ still to be resolved in push for Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Sky News understands

Published

7 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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IDF presence in Gaza 'only issue' still to be resolved in push for Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Sky News understands

Only one issue remains unresolved in the push to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, according to Sky sources.

Intense negotiations are taking place in Qatar in parallel with key talks in Washington between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Two sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations have told Sky News that disagreement between Israel and Hamas remains on the status and presence of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza.

The two sides have bridged significant differences on several other issues, including the process of delivering humanitarian aid and Hamas’s demand that the US guarantees to ensure Israel doesn’t unilaterally resume the war when the ceasefire expires in 60 days.

On the issue of humanitarian aid, Sky News understands that a third party that neither Hamas nor Israel has control over will be used in areas from which the IDF withdraws.

This means that the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – jointly run by an American organisation and Israel – will not be able to operate anywhere where the IDF is not deployed. It will limit GHF expansion plans.

It is believed the United Nations or other recognised humanitarian organisations will adopt a greater role.

On the issue of a US guarantee to prevent Israel restarting the war, Sky News understands that a message was passed to Hamas by Dr Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian American who has emerged as a key back channel in the negotiations.

The message appears to have been enough to convince Hamas that President Trump will prevent Israel from restarting the conflict.

However, there is no sense from any of the developments over the course of the past day about what the future of Gaza looks like longer-term.

Final challenge is huge

The last remaining disagreement is, predictably, the trickiest to bridge.

Israel’s central war aim, beyond the return of the hostages, is the total elimination of Hamas as a military and political organisation. The withdrawal of the IDF, partial or total, could allow Hamas to regroup.

One way to overcome this would be to provide wider guarantees of clear deliverable pathways to a viable future for Palestinians.

But there is no sense from the negotiations of any longer-term commitments on this issue.

Two key blocks have been resolved over the past 24 hours but the final challenge is huge.

The conflict in Gaza erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Some 20 hostages are believed to remain alive in Gaza.

Israel has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

World

‘Widespread sexual violence’ took place during Hamas’s 7 October attacks, report by Israeli experts says

Published

16 hours ago

July 8, 2025

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'Widespread sexual violence' took place during Hamas's 7 October attacks, report by Israeli experts says

A newly released report led by Israeli legal and gender experts presents detailed evidence alleging “widespread and systematic” sexual violence during the Hamas-led terror attack on 7 October.

Warning: This story contains descriptions of rape and sexual violence

The findings, published by the Dinah Project, argue that these acts amount to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), and assert that “Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war”.

The report draws on 18 months of investigation and is based on survivor testimonies, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with first responders, morgue personnel and healthcare professionals.

According to the Dinah Project, the documented patterns – such as forced nudity, gang rapes, genital mutilation, and threats of forced marriage – indicate a deliberate and coordinated use of sexual violence by Hamas operatives during the attack.

Reported incidents span at least six locations, including the Nova music festival, and several kibbutzim in southern Israel.

One section of the report describes victims “found fully or partially naked from the waist down, with their hands tied behind their backs and/or to structures such as trees and poles, and shot”.

At the Nova music festival and surrounding areas, the investigators found “reasonable grounds to believe” that multiple women were raped or gang-raped before being killed.

The report’s findings are consistent with earlier investigations by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict previously concluded that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” CRSV took place during the attack.

Significantly, the Dinah Project urges the international community to officially recognise the use of sexual violence by Hamas as a deliberate strategy of war and calls on the United Nations to add Hamas to its list of parties responsible for conflict-related sexual violence.

The nature and scale of sexual violence on 7 October have been a subject of intense controversy, with some accusing parties of weaponising the narrative for political ends.

This report seeks to confront what its authors call “denial, misinformation, and global silence,” and to provide justice for the victims.

Hamas has denied that its fighters have used sexual violence and mistreated female hostages.