Vladimir Putin has ordered the heating to be cut off in Russian prisons as temperatures hit minus 35C to force prisoners to fight in Ukraine.
According to a human rights organisation Russia Behind Bars, by the Russian military to recruit national minorities who are from poor areas, this therefore creates an “illusion of normality” for wealthy Russians.
Putin is using the minus 35C temperatures to force the prisoners to fight which will bolster his troops in Ukraine.
Read more on Russia-Ukraine war:
Former Russian military chief warns Putin ‘there will be no one left’ in the summer to fight
This comes as the former Russian military chief Igor Girkin has said that Putin will have “no one and nothing” left to fight come the spring.
Girkin who is Putin’s former commander said that the Russian army is running out “cannon fodder” to fight his war in Ukraine.
He wrote on his Telegram channel, “There will be no mobilisation yet, until the ‘elections’ for sure.
“They will try to patch up ‘holes in the ranks’ and new units at the expense of prisoners and contract soldiers.”
Girkin added, “In turn, means that in the spring we will have no one and nothing with which to attack (and if mobilisation is not carried out in the spring, then there will be no one in the summer).”
The German newspaper Bild was informed by the human rights group that the conditions in the Russian prisons is now so “unbearable” being sent to the frontlines seems like a far better option for them.
Human rights activist Olga Romanova told Bild, “For this reason, they simply cut off their heating at minus temperatures.
“By doing so, conditions in prisons must become unbearable for the men there to go to Ukraine.
Prisoners are simply sent en masse to the front line in Ukraine and sacrificed there.
She added, “As long as these three groups are fighting and dying in Ukraine, Putin can create the illusion of normality for the rest.