Total Anomie
Russia: Convicts as Front-Line Soldiers
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Russia is using convicts as soldiers on a large scale in the war against Ukraine. The regime first permitted this illegal practice of the allegedly private army Group Wagner to recruit mercenaries. Then the Law of Conscription and finally even the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure were amended. Now, the Ministry of Defence itself is contracting people who have only been charged but not convicted. The consequences are devastating. Serious criminals are amnestied after six months and return to society. The state is no longer fulfilling its elementary obligation to protect its citizens. Russia is on the way to total anomie.
(Osteuropa 4/2024, pp. 79–86)