Key facts
- Ukraine's Justice Ministry said more than 12,000 prisoners had joined the Armed Forces under the program by early 2026.
- Sjava, who asked the Kyiv Independent not to publish his full name, spent 22 of 35 years in prison before enlisting.
- Sjava said he was wounded near Novopavlivka in Donetsk Oblast in February 2026 and spent three days in freezing cold before rescue.
- Sjava said surgeons operated on his leg 23 times and that he receives Hr 120,000 (about $2,600) per month in state support.
- Sjava said his group of 36 soldiers was reduced to perhaps five or six survivors, including him.
Ukraine's Justice Ministry said more than 12,000 prisoners had joined the Armed Forces under a program created by a law passed in May 2024, which allows prisoners to seek conditional release in exchange for military service, the Kyiv Independent reported on November 9, 2026.
The program places convicts mostly in infantry roles in some of the war's most dangerous sectors. Sjava, who asked the Kyiv Independent not to publish his full name for security reasons, enlisted in the 59th Brigade last winter after spending 22 of the previous 35 years in prison, on sentences ranging from minor offenses to murder. He first went to prison at 16 in the early 1990s.
Sjava said he was ordered on February 2 to rotate soldiers from a neighboring unit, a task he described as a one-way trip, and that he believed his commander sent him because he had spoken too much. He said he had refused to hand over part of his salary for communal expenses including fuel, food and cigarettes.
He said the mission lasted less than a day. Near a bridge on the southern front line, after he reported his location by radio, he said a friendly fire incident occurred and he was hit by mortar fire. He said he hid beneath bodies to avoid Russian first-person view drones, then dragged himself across the ground and spent three days in freezing cold before a Ukrainian vehicle reached him. He was wounded near Novopavlivka in Donetsk Oblast, losing one leg, part of the other foot and most of his fingers.
Sjava said surgeons operated on his leg 23 times. He said the state paid for his electric wheelchair, that he receives rehabilitation through the public system, and that he has been assigned Ukraine's most severe disability status, with Hr 120,000 (about $2,600) per month while undergoing treatment. He said he has been treated no differently from any other veteran.