The Ministry of Justice announced a record decrease in the number of prisoners in the Russian Federation

Deputy Minister of Justice of Russia Vsevolod Vukolov announced a record reduction in the number of prisoners in Russian prisons and colonies. According to him, if 10 years ago about 700 thousand people were serving time in places of deprivation of liberty, now there are only about 266 thousand of them. The “Mediazon” publication, having analyzed the statistics, believes that in the last year and a half, prisons have been empty primarily due to the sending of prisoners to the war in Ukraine.

Vukolov’s statement became the first public report on the number of prisoners after the FSIN stopped publishing these statistics in November 2022 due to the recruitment of PMC “Wagner”.

The graph presented by “Mediazona” shows that the sharp reduction in the number of prisoners began in September 2022. By the end of October, they had decreased by 28,000, by the end of the year – by 32,000. And in 2023, by the beginning of October, there were 58 thousand fewer prisoners in Russian prisons than in January.

PMC “Wagner” began recruiting prisoners from Russian colonies in the summer of 2022. After six months of service in Ukraine, they were promised amnesty, and in case of death or injury, significant payments to the families. Since February of this year, the Ministry of Defense of Russia has been recruiting prisoners and sending them to war.

According to the BBC and Mediazone, which keep a count of Russians killed in the war in Ukraine based on open sources, recruited prisoners make up the largest part of the casualties.