A man convicted in the killing of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov has been released from jail after signing up to join the military operation in Ukraine. Boris Nemtsov, a critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in 2015 near the Kremlin. Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, one of the men convicted for Nemtsov’s murder, signed a contract with the defense ministry in March 2024, leading to his release from prison. He is now serving in a combat unit in Ukraine. Other convicts in the case remain in jail for refusing to sign similar contracts.
The release of Eskerkhanov has been criticized by Nemtsov’s one-time spokesman, Ilya Yashin, who called it a “scorn for the memory of my dead friend.” Russian prisoners have been volunteering to join the military in Ukraine in exchange for clemency. This recruitment tactic was initially used by the Wagner mercenary group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash in 2023 after a failed mutiny. The Russian defense ministry has since adopted the practice, forming Storm-Z units with convict volunteers recruited from prisons.
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