Ukrainian Justice Minister Proposes Giving Weapons, Shovels to Mobilized Prisoners

 Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Maliuska on Sunday proposed giving prisoners weapons and shovels when they are mobilized to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Maliuska previously said that at least 50,000 men of military age with criminal records are hiding from Ukrainian draft boards and are not registered with the military. 

"I find it difficult to imagine what sort of danger those who were convicted of violating traffic rules with unintended consequences or those who, for example, committed a corruption violation, pose to the Ukrainian armed forces. They certainly would not kill their fellows with a machine gun ... If we do not want to - or we cannot or find it too risky - to give them a gun, let us give them a shovel," the justice minister said on Ukrainian public television.