 Russia's military is actively recruiting female prisoners for war in Ukraine. A top Ukrainian official said Russia has been actively recruiting women from penpal colonies to fight in its war with Ukraine. Andrey Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence service, told the Kiev Post that Moscow's forces have been using the female convicts for active battlefield duty. We are not only talking about auxiliary units but combat units as well. If needed, Yusov said. Women prisoners are promised salaries and the opportunity to be released from prison and to return home after their service. The convicted women, many who are serving long sentences, agree to the offer, because they are convinced by propaganda that they will return home alive, but dreams only come true for some. According to Yusov, relatively few Russian women prisoners return home alive and unharmed. Most of the women prisoners recruited by Russia have been killed or returned with serious injuries, he says. The practice of giving convicts the option to fight in exchange for freedom dates back to the days of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash last August. However, the conditions attached to service have changed. The freeing of prisoners after six months' service in Ukraine has been cancelled. Andrey Yusov tells the Kiev Post, the increase in women recruits may be because of a decrease in the number of male prisoners willing to serve in these units as, since September 2023, they have been obliged to sign long-term defense ministry contracts with the Russians after serving in Storm V convict manned assault units at the six-month point. Previously, they would receive a full pardon at this point and could then resign from military service. As of today, prisoners in the Russian Federation sign contracts on a general basis. That is, the contract specifies a term of up to five years, but the contract is automatically extended until the end of the so-called special military operation. Yusov said Russian President Vladimir Putin's military has suffered severe casualties in Ukraine, with Kiev reporting Moscow as having lost more than 450,000 troops since the invasion was launched in February 2022. Reports have long suggested Russia has struggled to refill its ranks from these losses, and the practice of using prison inmates has been one solution. A car belonging to Vasily Prozorov, a former employee of the Ukrainian Security Service, has been blown up in Russian capital Moscow, Russian media reported. The explosive substance was placed under his car parked near Prozorov's house. As can be seen from the footage spread on telegram channels, the explosion occurred immediately after Prozorov got into his Land Cruiser car. However, there was no fire. Cars parked nearby were damaged during the blast. According to some sources, the cause of the incident was an explosion in a gas pipeline passing through the place where the car was parked. As a result of the incident, Prozorov was seriously injured in his legs and was hospitalized. Described as a traitor in Ukraine, Prozorov worked in the Security Service in 1999-2018. He had been transmitting information to Russia during the military operations in the east of the country since 2014. Presently, he lives in Moscow.