Putin’s army ‘recruiting prisoners who have TB and HIV’

Russian mercenary company Wagner Group has been recruiting prisoners suffering from infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C to fight in Ukraine. More than 100 prisoners have been deployed with coloured bracelets marking their illnesses, Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence department has reported. It added that there is “growing indignation at this situation” among other soldiers.CNN anchor Erin Burnett said: “There’s a severe shortage of human beings, a severe shortage of troops.”The chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence is telling CNN today that Putin’s private army is now calling up prisoners who have tuberculosis, hepatitis and HIV and sending them to the frontline.”Here’s what is even more bizarre and disturbing about this, the new soldiers are wearing coloured wristbands to signify to their colleagues their disease.”Ukrainian troops are holding out against repeated attacks by Russian forces in two eastern towns while those on the southern front are poised to battle for the strategic Kherson region, which Russia appears to be reinforcing.READ MORE: Putin using dirty bomb claim to blackmail world into negotiations Russian prisoners with infectious diseases are being recruited to fight in Ukraine (Image: Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence) More than 100 prisoners have been deployed with coloured bracelets marking their illnesses (Image: GETTY)President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Wednesday evening video address that there would be good news from the front but he gave no details.He did not mention what was happening in Kherson in the south, which officials and military analysts have predicted will be one of the most consequential battles of the war since Russia invaded Ukraine eight months ago.The most severe fighting in eastern Ukraine was taking place near Avdiivka, outside Donetsk, and Bakhmut, Mr Zelensky said.He said: “This is where the craziness of the Russian command is most evident. Day after day, for months, they are driving people to their deaths there, concentrating the highest level of artillery strikes.”Russian forces have repeatedly tried to seize Bakhmut, which sits on a main road leading to the Ukrainian-held cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.The looming battle for Kherson city at the mouth of the Dnipro River will determine whether Ukraine can loosen Russia’s grip on the south.The Russian-appointed Kherson regional government said it had rebased to the left bank of the Dnipro, Russia’s RIA news agency reported, as forces braced for an increase in fighting.DON’T MISSRussian soldiers in furious outburst over war ‘Absolute f****ng hell’ [VIDEO]Biden launches hypersonic weapon drill after Putin’s ‘massive’ test [INSIGHT]Ukraine energy crisis grips Kyiv as refugees urged not to return [ANALYSIS] There is ‘growing indignation ‘ among other soldiers (Image: GETTY)While much of the front line remains off limits to journalists, at one section north of the Russian-occupied pocket on the west bank of the Dnipro, Ukrainian soldiers said Russian shelling was stepping up again after having tailed off in recent weeks.Radio intercepts indicated freshly mobilised recruits had been sent to the front and Russian forces were firmly dug in.”They have good defensive lines with deep trenches, and they are sitting deep underground,” said Vitalii, a Ukrainian soldier squatting in a weed-choked irrigation canal, concealed from any prowling enemy drones by overhanging trees.Ukrainian forces advanced along the Dnipro in a dramatic push in the south at the start of this month, but progress appears to have slowed. Russia has been evacuating civilians on the west bank but says it has no plans to pull out its troops.