Law, Order, and War Contracts

In the spring of 2024, Russia amended its criminal procedure code to allow law enforcement officers to offer suspects a deal: go to the front lines in exchange for dropped charges. The independent outlet Verstka investigated how the recruitment system works and found that police receive bonuses for every signed contract with the Ministry of Defense. Nearly 12% of suspects accept the offer.

According to Verstka, police officers are now required to inform suspects of the military option even before their first interrogation. Suspects are told they could avoid prison, receive a monthly salary exceeding R200,000 (roughly $2,600), cash bonuses, family benefits, and free education for their children if they agree to join the armed forces.

If a suspect consents, their case is suspended, and pretrial detention is lifted. Charges are later dropped under non-exonerating circumstances, meaning the suspect cannot seek state compensation for wrongful prosecution, but avoids trial and prison altogether. Lawyers say that if a person returns from war with an award, an injury, or not at all, they are typically not considered to have had a criminal record.

Victims’ rights are rarely considered in this system. Once a suspect is deployed, victims cannot claim damages, and civil lawsuits are postponed until Russia's war on Ukraine ends, assuming the defendant is still alive, a federal judge told Verstka.

Law enforcement officers receive cash bonuses for each recruit they deliver to military enlistment offices. Sources within the Interior Ministry say the bonus practice began no later than August 2024. Payments range from R10,000 ($130) to R100,000 ($1300) per person, depending on the region.

“I sent three people,” a precinct officer from Kaluga told Verstka. “These were guys who had nothing to live for. Alcoholics, junkies. They were already on the list. We got the order a while back: ‘Motivate antisocial elements to enlist.’ Then they started paying bonuses.”

In St. Petersburg, bonuses rose to R50,000 ($640) per recruit in the fall of 2024. In the surrounding Leningrad Oblast, the amount was doubled. Officers in Moscow report similar rates, while in places like Rostov and Tomsk, the bonus is closer to $130.

The incentive system has led to abuses. In November 2024, in the town of Rossosh, three police officers allegedly beat a local man in custody with an electric shock device, trying to coerce him into signing a military contract. He later filed a formal complaint. Medical reports confirmed “multiple bruises, abrasions, and thermal burns.” The officers were interrogated six months later, but had not been charged at the time of reporting.

Under current guidelines, nearly all suspects are eligible for the military offer, excluding those accused of terrorism, espionage, treason or child sexual abuse. However, Verstka reported that offers are made across the board. In one case in June 2025, a man in the Komi Republic who confessed to sexual assault against a schoolgirl was asked to enlist. Though he agreed, his case was eventually sent to trial.

In June 2025 alone, police offered the enlistment option to 3,333 detainees nationwide, according to data obtained by Verstka. Of those, 392 agreed, or roughly 12%. The rest either declined or had unconfirmed outcomes.

Most volunteers were suspects in cases of theft (139), drug offenses (53), threats of murder (33), bodily harm (27), or fraud (24). Examples included a man in Khakassia arrested for stealing five packs of butter, a drunk driver in Ukhta, and a man in Komi caught shoplifting chocolate and brandy.

“These are mostly marginalized types, dumb junkies, they agree right away,” said the Kaluga precinct officer, adding that some recruits never make it to the frontlines and remain in training camps for months. “Commanders don’t want them in their battalions. Sometimes no one takes them.”

Lawyers and former police officers are increasingly alarmed by the practice, saying it undermines due process. Some current officers, however, see it as part of their duty.

Police are not allowed to withhold the military option. Every officer interviewed by Verstka confirmed that these conversations must be documented in internal reports. A federal judge in Moscow said authorities are required to process such requests swiftly and must not obstruct suspects from volunteering for military service.

“The problem is, the system now incentivizes sending people to war, not investigating crimes,” a former officer told Verstka. Investigators can double their monthly income by sending just two suspects to the front.

And sentences have also become harsher. Judges and investigators, one source said, often prefer to deliver maximum penalties in hopes that suspects will opt to fight rather than face trial.

“My view is unequivocally negative,” said one investigator. “We’ve reached a point where all you need is to prove someone’s guilt – and then send them to the front. It completely nullifies the essence of criminal justice.”