The number of prisoners in Russian correctional colonies decreased by a record 23,000 people in September and October of this year, writes "Mediazone" with reference to the data of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSVP).

This is happening against the background of the recruitment of prisoners to participate in the war in Ukraine.

In the summer, information began to appear that prisoners are being recruited by the Russian unofficial unit "PMC Wagner" of businessman

Yevgeny Prigozhin.

He personally visited colonies in different regions of Russia.

Since September, the Russian Ministry of Defense has also been involved in this.

Convicts are promised pardon and cash payments.

At first, convicts were sent to the front voluntarily, but later reports began to appear that now they are being sent there forcibly.

According to FSVP data, at the beginning of August, almost 349,000 people were held in correctional colonies.

By September, according to the long-term trend, there were a thousand fewer of them.

However, by the beginning of November, 325,000 prisoners remained.

In total, more than 23,000 prisoners disappeared from the colonies in two months.

Even during the mass amnesty, there was no such drastic reduction of convicts in the colonies, notes "Mediazone".

At the same time, the number of those in pretrial detention centers or settlement colonies, as well as the number of convicted women, has practically not changed.

The head of the "Sitting Russia" foundation,

Olga Romanova

, previously said that more than 20,000 prisoners were recruited to participate in the war in Ukraine.

According to The Insider publication, by the beginning of November, more than 500 Russian prisoners, recruited by Wagner PMC, had died in the war in Ukraine.

"Wagner PMC" is not listed on the balance sheet of military departments and in the register of legal entities, but its fighters, according to numerous journalistic investigations, take part in the ground operations of the Russian Federation in Syria and in the war in Ukraine.

PVK is considered one of the most combat-capable units participating in battles on Ukrainian territories.

The company's fighters are suspected of committing numerous war crimes.