KHARKIV REGION, Ukraine — Former car thief Bohdan Filonenko had a simple response for fellow inmates who criticised his decision to join Ukraine's military.

"I'm not going off to die," he recalled telling them. "I'm going to serve and change my life."

Filonenko, 32, is among thousands of Ukrainian prisoners who signed up under a new law granting them amnesty in exchange for army service.

Kyiv has struggled to recruit enough troops to fend off Moscow's full-scale invasion, which is grinding into its 30th month and showing no signs of ending.

In addition to overhauling the draft, authorities have also courted convicts like Filonenko, who is now training with the 57th Motorised Infantry Brigade, to boost their ranks with motivated men.

Filonenko and others interviewed by Reuters while training in the northeastern Kharkiv region said they leapt at the opportunity to fight.

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