despite criticism, the Kremlin maintains its policy of presidential pardon for prisoners who agree to fight

A man sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2010 for murder and cannibalism has been pardoned by President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian media. A release which opened a timid debate in Russia on the merits of this policy.

The Kremlin persists and signs. While the Russian press revealed the release of a man convicted of satanist and cannibalistic murders, he announced that he would maintain his policy of presidential pardon for prisoners agreeing to fight in Ukraine, Wednesday November 22. Nikolai Ogolobiak, sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2010, was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin and returned home in early November after serving six months on the front, according to the 76.ru news portal.

This pardon and those of other convicts, like one of the accomplices in the assassination of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, opened a timid debate in Russia on the merits of this policy. Relatives of victims in other cases have denounced this measure, especially since certain families were not informed of these releases. However, the Kremlin, questioned on the subject once again on Wednesday, does not foresee any change.

Tens of thousands of Russian detainees have joined the front in Ukraine

“The question is not new, it has been raised several times, and currently everyone is looking closely at these lists of pardoned people”noted Dmitri Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson. “But I repeat, these are conditions [de grâce] precise, linked to a presence on the front line, to a certain duration spent on the front line, to participation in assault groups, and it is after that that there is grace”, he explained, adding that “there is no revision” of this policy.

Tens of thousands of Russian detainees have joined the front in Ukraine, mostly under contracts with paramilitary groups like the Wagner Group. If they survive six months of fighting, they are eligible for a pardon. These men often served in the most dangerous areas of the front and, by the admission of Wagner’s late boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, were used as cannon fodder.