Vladimir Putin is sending troops to the front line in Ukraine from prisons with a notorious reputation.
Soldiers from jails will bolster the ranks of the invading forces with the promise of almost £2,800 and their sentences scrapped if they comply.
Russia has a long history of brutal prisons and while they are not quite as extreme as in the days of Soviet gulags filled to the brink by murderous dictator Joseph Stalin, conditions are reported to be difficult, particularly in specialist correction colonies.
