Russia appears to be using financial incentives to attract new recruits. Those who make progress at the front should get a kilometer bonus.
The Russian military is apparently trying new financial incentives to attract more recruits for the war in Ukraine. Reports from several regions of the country show campaigns on social media to recruit new soldiers. According to the independent Russian news site Meduza, new recruits in the Yaroslavl region alone will be offered 3,800 dollars (3,500 euros) for enrollment. In addition, there is a salary of around $2,600 (2,400 euros) – which is far above the salary of a doctor or software developer.
Bonuses are also promised. For every kilometer that soldiers shift the front in Ukraine in favor of Russia, there should be an extra 650 dollars, around 590 euros. According to Meduza, such messages have also been seen in Novosibirsk, Kursk and other Russian cities – including on posters in apartment buildings and blocks of flats. Schools are also said to have been instructed to draw attention to the recruitment offers.
The Russian website Baza previously reported that new soldiers are to be recruited in the Moscow region. The Ukrainian secret service reported on Wednesday that 920 Russian soldiers had died in one day. According to Kiev, Russia has lost more than 167,000 fighters. The information cannot be independently verified, and there are no official figures from Moscow.
According to British intelligence services, Russia’s authorities are probably preparing for an expansion of military service in order to strengthen the armed forces. On March 13, a bill was introduced in the Russian House of Commons, according to which in future men between the ages of 21 and 30 should be called up instead of men between the ages of 18 and 27, the British Ministry of Defense said. “The law is expected to be passed and would then come into force in January 2024,” it said in London.
