Between July 2024 and the end of April 2025, russia's Southern Military District enlisted 14,560 individuals who were either convicted criminals or awaiting trial. These recruits signed contracts with the occupying forces to escape criminal liability and earn money.

According to reports from the occupation army itself, between January and April 2025, at least 4,212 of these recruits were listed as killed or missing in action, not including the wounded. This accounts for over 28% of the so-called "special contingent."

Many of the dead were young men aged just 18–19. Among them was Private sergei mikhailovich saprykin, born in 2006, who served with the 111th Rifle Regiment.

These statistics are yet another brutal testament to the kremlin's cynical strategy of turning young people and marginalized populations into disposable assets in its war against Ukraine.