In Russian prisons, they said they were deprived of effective treatments for their HIV. On the battlefield in Ukraine, they were offered hope, with the promise of antiviral medications if they agreed to fight. It was a recruiting pitch that worked for many Russian prisoners.
About 20% of recruits in Russian prisoner units are HIV positive, Ukrainian authorities estimate based on infection rates in captured soldiers. Serving on the front lines seemed less risky than staying in prison, the detainees said in interviews with The New York Times.
“Conditions were very harsh” in Russian prison, said Timur, 37, an HIV positive Russian soldier interviewed at a detention site in the city of Dnieper in central Ukraine, and identified only by a first name, worried that he would face retaliation if he returned to Russia in a prisoner swap.
After he was sentenced to 10 years for drug dealing, the doctors in the Russian prison changed the antiviral medication he had been taking to control HIV to types he feared were not effective, Timur said.
In December, he agreed to serve six months in the Wagner mercenary group in exchange for a pardon and supplies of antiviral medications. “I understood I would have a quick death or a slow death,” he said of choosing between poor HIV treatment in prison and participating in assaults in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Timur had no military experience and was provided two weeks of training before deployment, he said. Units of former prisoners have made up the bulk of forces in Russia’s attack on Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest and longest-running battles in the war. Beginning on a wide scale last summer, inmates were promised pardons for going into combat.
About 20% of recruits in Russian prisoner units are HIV positive, Ukrainian authorities estimate based on infection rates in captured soldiers. Serving on the front lines seemed less risky than staying in prison, the detainees said in interviews with The New York Times.
“Conditions were very harsh” in Russian prison, said Timur, 37, an HIV positive Russian soldier interviewed at a detention site in the city of Dnieper in central Ukraine, and identified only by a first name, worried that he would face retaliation if he returned to Russia in a prisoner swap.
After he was sentenced to 10 years for drug dealing, the doctors in the Russian prison changed the antiviral medication he had been taking to control HIV to types he feared were not effective, Timur said.
In December, he agreed to serve six months in the Wagner mercenary group in exchange for a pardon and supplies of antiviral medications. “I understood I would have a quick death or a slow death,” he said of choosing between poor HIV treatment in prison and participating in assaults in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Timur had no military experience and was provided two weeks of training before deployment, he said. Units of former prisoners have made up the bulk of forces in Russia’s attack on Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest and longest-running battles in the war. Beginning on a wide scale last summer, inmates were promised pardons for going into combat.
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