This is how poor Russians are enticed to enlist in the Ukraine war

In a meeting with the defense leadership on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin claimed that the combat capability of the Russian forces is increasing day by day.

According to the state-run Russian news agency Interfax Putin also said that there are no restrictions on the funding of the defense and that the country will provide everything the defense asks for.

The number of Russian soldiers is to be greatly increased, from 1 million to 1.5 million.

The figure is said to include 695,000 volunteer soldiers employed on contract.

– Major social challenges

Russian recruitment videos are already actively used in recruiting new soldiers.

Some of them are shared on the messaging service Telegram and create fierce debate on social media.

The videos play on the financial benefits of enlisting as a soldier. After the war of aggression against Ukraine, inflation skyrocketed, and in April reached its highest level in 20 years.

– In a country with such great social challenges as there are especially in the Russian countryside, it is clear that financial compensation is an important factor for many who consider signing up for the war in Ukraine, says senior advisor Ivar Dale of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee to TV 2.

– A poor country

Head of department Inna Sangadzhieva in the Helsinki Committee points out that Russia is a poor country, where around 20-25 per cent of Russians live around the poverty line. About 1 per cent is what one would call in Norway “loud poor”.

– They don’t have enough money for food. Every fifth child in Russia lives in poverty, and now they are also becoming orphans, says Sangadzhieva to TV 2.

In November, Russia was in a recession, following extensive Western sanctions. Restrictions on exports and imports, labor shortages and problems with the supply of spare parts weigh on the Russian economy.

Saving for iPhone

IN a recruitment video we see the teenager Alyona, who is saving for a smartphone and talking to her friend about it.

The father has not been paid his salary from the factory, and asks her for money.

– You are our only hope! exclaims the father.

Then the father eavesdrops on the daughter’s conversation with her friend, where she talks about her father’s heroic past as a military veteran. He then decides to enlist, to solve his family’s financial problems.

– This propaganda video shows Russian men the real reason they should sign up to fight in Ukraine: To buy a smartphone for their teenage daughter, writes BBC Monitoring journalist Francis Scarr Twitter.

Watch the video here:

The recruitment video ends with the text poster “The security of the fatherland – the happiness of the family – the future of the children” in front of a waving Russian flag.

Sangadzhieva says that a highly corrupt system has led to huge differences between rich and poor.

She explains that the so-called “middle class” are mostly government employees, including representatives from uniformed agencies, who often earn significantly more than teachers and doctors, especially in rural areas.

– Financial dependence on the state in the form of loans and credits is widespread among not only ordinary soldiers, but also officers. Russian authorities try to buy loyalty in the form of promises of one-off support and paid leave, but in practice the population is thrown into greater poverty with no future prospects, says Sangadzhieva.

Must sell the Lada

IN another recruitment video we see a grandfather struggling to afford food.

Rising food prices are of great concern to Russian consumers with low incomes. According to Rosstat, food prices, especially fruit and vegetables, increased by 11.5 per cent in November.

In the video, the grandfather decides to sell his Lada, to make ends meet.

He is helped by his granddaughter Sasha, who takes pictures of the car and puts it up for sale. But the grandfather is in great agony.

A buyer shows up and pushes the price down to half.

– This car is older than me, says the buyer.

As the grandfather resigns and signs the sales contract, Sasha comes to his rescue.

– Now we are definitely safe, says granddaughter Sasha, who has put on a military winter jacket.

According to investigative journalist Christo Grozev in Bellingcat, it has been discussed in Russia whether the video could be Ukrainian-produced propaganda. But it turns out that this is a real, Russian advertising video, Grozev writes Twitter.

Watch the video here:

– Tragic and grotesque

Senior adviser Ivar Dale says that for many fathers of families, enlistment is a way to quickly earn money in a life otherwise characterized by unemployment.

At the same time, sensational rewards, such as a new car for the bereaved, can have the opposite effect, he continues.

Dale says that where previously grandfathers were thanked for victories in the Second World War, now it is a father who thanks his son for giving his life for a modest financial compensation.

– For example, the video of a father who is happy about a new Lada after his son was killed in war has been circulating in Russian social media, and is probably perceived by most people as tragic and grotesque, he tells TV 2.

– The tragic thing also consists in the fact that many Russians pretend to reflect more on the size of the financial compensation, and not the morally reprehensible part of participating in the war against Ukraine, says Ivar Dale of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

Increases the conscription age

Wednesday quoted Vestithe news editorial of the state broadcaster Russia-1, Minister of Defense Sergej Shoigu that 250,000 Russian soldiers have gained combat experience in Ukraine.

Shoigu proposes to raise the conscription age gradually from 18 to 21 years, and claims that the fight in Ukraine is taking place against “the combined forces of the West”.

According to Putin, he will achieve the goals for the Ukrainian areas that he is trying to incorporate into Russia.

– In all territories, including the new ones, the soldiers will secure the lives of our citizens, the president said on Wednesday.