 Prisoners released in exchange for joining the army created real chaos in Russia. Igor Sofanov, who was recruited to fight in Ukraine from a Russian penal colony where he was serving a sentence on drug charges, returned to civilian life this spring after he was pardoned as a part of a deal with the Russian military. Sofanov's acquaintances told the Moscow Times that his military service had changed him for the better. But his time out of prison and the army would not last long. Sofanov, 37, was arrested this month alongside another ex-convict Maxim Bochkarev, 38, on accusations of stabbing at least six people to death and setting the victims' homes ablaze in a village in the Northwestern Republic of Karelia. The widely reported killings have sparked fierce debate about whether ex-convicts should be pardoned in exchange for their military service and highlights the challenges of integrating these men into society when they return home. Russia, in particular, the Wagner mercenary group run by Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigoshin launched an illegal prisoner recruitment campaign to boost Moscow's military presence in Ukraine starting last summer. In exchange for their military service in Ukraine, prisoners are promised to be pardoned and their criminal records expunged. According to leading prisoners' rights activist Olga Romanova, the total number of convicts recruited for the war could be up to 80,000 in total, with at least 20,000 ex-convicts from Wagner already returned to civil life. Another Wagner fighter, Ivan Rusomahin, who was serving 14 years in jail for murder and robbery, was freed this spring after fighting in Ukraine, commuting his sentence by 10 years. In March, he was arrested on suspicion of killing an 85-year-old pensioner in the Kirov region village of Novibarets. Residents from other Russian regions where ex-prisoners are returning from the frontline have also voiced fears about the potential impact of freed convicts. Meanwhile, Russia continues its efforts to recruit prisoners for the war, activists warn. It opened a Pandora's box that will have an impact on generations to come, Romanova said.