A police car blocks a road in Moscow, Russia, 21 October 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

Ten former prisoners who were due to fight in Ukraine escaped from a military training ground in Russia’s southern Rostov region in the early hours of Friday, regional news website Donday reported on Tuesday.

The soldiers, all of whom had signed contracts with the Russian Defence Ministry, had gone AWOL from a military training ground near the city of Rostov-on-Don, the outlet wrote, adding that the men were due to depart for Ukraine within days, but did not show up at their unit’s base to have their uniforms issued to them.

Four of the men were detained that same day as they tried to leave the region. The security forces were subsequently able to establish the whereabouts of two more escapees, but they have not yet been caught, according to local news outlet 161.ru. The other men’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Donday said the men in question had been serving custodial sentences for murder, robbery, drug trafficking, rape and assault prior to signing up to join the armed forces. Russian prisoners are routinely encouraged to join the armed forces as an alternative to serving more prison time.

In April, about 100 soldiers tried to escape internment on a military base in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar. Seven of the men managed to escape from the base, but were later detained.