Russian President Vladimir Putin inspects Kyrgyzstan honour guard officers during the welcoming ceremony at the Yntymak Ordo Presidential Palace, on November 26, 2025 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Russian military veterans are carrying out “violent crimes against Russian civilians,” according to the UK. The British Ministry of Defence ( MoD ) has warned that approximately 550 civilians have been killed by returning veterans, with a further 465 injured. According to independent Russian media outlet Vertska, more than half of the deaths were reportedly caused by some of the 180,000 convicts recruited to join in the Ukraine war by the Kremlin. “The challenge presented to Russian society by tens of thousands of violent offenders with recent and often traumatic combat experience returning to civilian life, particularly having been subject to the brutality of Russia’s armed forces, is significant, and will likely increase in scale in the medium term,” according to the MoD. “The Russian senior leadership highly likely considers the issue to be a matter of growing concern.” Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law in October 2024 allowing defendants in criminal cases to avoid trial and even sentencing if they were to sign up. The MoD also pointed out that the Wagner paramilitary group – used by Russia in the war effort – started using convicts for the conflict in 2022 and has recruited around 50,000 prisoners. Inmates were offered commutation of their sentences after six months of service. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has become a brutal war of attrition, meaning the president has been forced to resort to new means to bolster his depleted army. The Russian armed forces were estimated to have endured more than a million casualties – those killed or injured – between February 2022 and June this year. Ukraine’s army estimates Russia has lost a further 205,690 soldiers since then. However, the Russian president has stopped short of introducing conscription, after his attempt at partial mobilisation of reservists in September 2022 triggered protests across the country. The MoD previously claimed Putin is relying on ethnic minorities from poor regions to bolster Russia’s war effort. The UK intelligence officials said: “By focusing recruitment efforts disproportionately on impoverished regions, often predominantly populated by ethnic minorities, Russia’s state apparatus better leverages financial inducements, whilst also limiting the impact on those urban-dwelling parts of the Russian population that have greater political agency.” The update comes just after Donald Trump hosted Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida for further peace talks. While the US president insisted Russia wants “Ukraine to succeed”, his Ukrainian counterpart made it clear he does not think Putin’s words align with his actions when it comes to ending the conflict. Almost four years after invading, Russia holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory – and is refusing to compromise in peace discussions. Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 29 December 2025. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/hv1PcOzts2 #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/zebScKZUVI — Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) December 29, 2025 Related... Trump Talks Up Putin With Fresh Outrageous Claim In Joint Zelenskyy Press Conference Putin Deployed A Sneaky Trick To Try And Derail Zelenskyy's Trump Meeting Republican Congressman Dances Around Answering Whether Trump Supports Russia Or Ukraine