Almost ten years ago, one of Vladimir Putin's most prominent critics, opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, was shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow.
This spring, one of the five convicted of the murder, Tamerlan Eskertjanov, was released after signing a contract to participate in the war against Ukraine, writes Expressen and refers to information in Russian media. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2017 for his involvement in the murder.
Eskertjanov signed a contract with the Defense Ministry in March 2024, was pardoned and released from his prison camp, says a source to Tass according to Novaja Gazeta.
He was enlisted in an offensive force and is now performing combat missions in the special military operation zone.
Although Eskertjanov is a person convicted in a high-profile case, he is not unique in being released in exchange for becoming a soldier in the war against Ukraine. Thousands of prisoners, from murderers to those convicted of lesser crimes, have taken the same path as the Russian leadership tries to replace the many who have been killed in the war.
