Russia struggles to replace casualties in Ukraine war

 AP:

The prisoners at the penal colony in St. Petersburg were expecting a visit by officials, thinking it would be some sort of inspection. Instead, men in uniform arrived and offered them amnesty — if they agreed to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.

Over the following days, about a dozen or so left the prison, according to a woman whose boyfriend is serving a sentence there. Speaking on condition of anonymity because she feared reprisals, she said her boyfriend wasn't among the volunteers, although with years left on his sentence, he “couldn't not think about it.”

As Russia continues to suffer losses in its invasion of Ukraine, now nearing the sixth-month mark, the Kremlin has refused to announce a full-blown mobilization — a move that could be very unpopular for President Vladimir Putin. That has led instead to a covert recruitment effort that includes using prisoners to make up the manpower shortage.

This also is happening amid reports that hundreds of Russian soldiers are refusing to fight and trying to quit the military.

“We’re seeing a huge outflow of people who want to leave the war zone — those who have been serving for a long time and those who have signed a contract just recently,” said Alexei Tabalov, a lawyer who runs the Conscript’s School legal aid group.

The group has seen an influx of requests from men who want to terminate their contracts, “and I personally get the impression that everyone who can is ready to run away,” Tabalov said in an interview with the Associated Press. "And the Defense Ministry is digging deep to find those it can persuade to serve.”
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The anti-war movement in Russia has to be a surprise to the Putin regime which likes to pretend they are fighting Nazis instead of Ukraine's defense forces.   The significant casualties they have endured must also play a part in the resistance to fighting.  The total recent estimate I saw put the number at 80,000.