UN expert says prisoners sent by Russia to fight in Ukraine are committing crimes when they return

GENEVA (AP) — A U.N.-backed human rights expert monitoring President Vladimir Putin’s Russia has decried increased violence in the country caused by former prisoners who have their sentences shortened or pardoned to fight in Ukraine and then return home to commit crimes including rape and murder. Mariana Katzarova, who is observing rights in Russia under a mandate from the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, said the return home to Russia of former criminals who have had their legal slates wiped clean is adding to more domestic violence. She says an estimated 170,000 convicted violent criminals have been recruited to fight in Ukraine.