Convicts and foreigners no longer fight in Air Assault Forces

The Ukrainian Air Assault Forces (DShV) currently operate without former prisoners or foreign volunteer fighters in their ranks, commander Oleh Apostol confirmed in an interview with Ukrinform.

“Former prisoners fought with us in Kursk, but now, we don’t have such soldiers,” Apostol said. Foreign fighters are equally absent. When the DShV found itself at the sharpest end of the fight, holding breakthroughs and moments that separate units from collapse, the foreigners simply weren’t able to keep up. “When our guys showed heroism, destroying the enemy, they could not withstand such fighting,” сказав він.

The DShV is instead leaning into domestic recruitment pipelines. The force falls under the “Contract 18–24” program, with young recruits receiving focused preparation to make them as combat-effective as possible before they ever see a treeline. Perhaps more striking is the other end of the age spectrum — servicemen aged 60 and above are also signing contracts with the Air Assault Forces. In a war that keeps demanding more, the DShV is clearly casting its net wide, and doing it on its own terms.