Russia’s prison population falls as convicts are sent to war

(Lucy Pakhnyuk – The Kyiv Independent) Russia’s prison population has decreased by more than 180,000 inmates over five years, a decline partly driven by Moscow’s recruitment of prisoners to fight in Ukraine, the head of the country’s prison system said May 14. Arkady Gostev, head of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service, said Russia now holds 282,000 prisoners, down from 465,000 at the end of 2021, according to state media. The decrease amounts to nearly 40%. Russia has one of the world’s largest prison systems, much of it inherited from the Soviet labor camp network, though its inmate population has declined over the past two decades. – Russia’s prison population falls as convicts are sent to war