A Russian prisoner-turned-soldier says he was brought to the front line without training and told...

A Russian prisoner-turned-soldier told the New York Times that he and other convicts were thrown onto the front line of Russia's war against Ukraine with no training and told to charge "as far as we could go" into Ukrainian gunfire.

The 44-year-old soldier, identified only as Aleksandr, told the Times that he joined the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor with close ties to the Kremlin, to reduce his prison sentence by three years. He had been convicted for illegal logging, according to the Times.

The Times reported that Aleksandr — and other prisoners like him who joined the Wagner Group in exchange for pardons — told The Times that they were essentially used as human sacrifices to advance the Russian position into Ukrainian-controlled areas.