In Moscow, a young father pushing a stroller stood in front of a recruitment poster: The Russian Armed Forces are in urgent need of supplies.Image: trapezoid
The Kremlin's bosses are now recruiting particularly desperate people in their own countries. He also received help from Yemen's Houthis in the war in Ukraine.
Fabian Houck/ch media
A new deal is expected to bring a large number of soldiers to the Russian military. Anyone who commits to waging war against Ukraine for at least a year will receive debt forgiveness of up to 10 million rubles (equivalent to about 85,000 francs).
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin signed the corresponding law over the weekend. According to the Russian agency, this should apply to recruits who initiated debt collection procedures before December 1 of this year.
It’s clear who this proposal is aimed at: young Russians of military age. People aged 20-35 are particularly vulnerable to over-indebtedness, according to a recent report from the Russian Central Bank.
Almost no one in the Russian population has savings, and about half are even in debt through one or more loans. Interest rates on Russian consumer loans are sometimes as high as 20%, making repayments impossible for many people.
On top of this, inflation is also soaring: it exceeded 8% in Russia in October, and even higher for some food products. Recently, there were reports of supermarkets locking butter in glass containers to prevent theft. This year, the price of a stick of butter has increased by 25%.
More than 700,000 Russian soldiers died in action
Anyone who can't get out of the debt spiral should now be looking for a way out in the war. Conscripts can also sign up for military service in Ukraine through contracts, explained Sergey Krivinko of the human rights group Memorial.
With the new law, Putin hopes to convince volunteers to avoid a second wave of mass mobilizations. The first, about two years ago, not only sparked riots in Moscow but also encouraged many Russians to flee.
Kremlin Chairman Vladimir Putin at a meeting at government headquarters in Moscow.Image: trapezoid
However, the military's need for personnel is huge: Ukraine's secret service estimates that more than 700,000 Russian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield so far. Such high losses are also related to Russia's reckless and poorly equipped soldiers being used as cannon fodder to attack Ukrainian positions. Ukrainians call it “meat grinder tactics.”
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army has adopted various methods to recruit new soldiers. In addition to the mobilization in autumn 2022, the Wagner Mercenary Corps recruits convicted criminals directly from prisons.
About 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been fighting alongside Kremlin troops so far this year. As it became known this weekend, Putin is also apparently recruiting mercenaries from among Yemen's Houthi rebels: as the Financial Times reported on Sunday, hundreds of Yemeni men have been recruited into the Russian armed forces.
Yemeni recruits who went to Russia to fight against Ukraine were well paid and even given Russian citizenship, the Financial Times reported. Upon arrival, they were forcibly recruited with the help of Houthi affiliates and sent to the front lines.
Sad scene – the grave of the Ukrainian hero
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Sad scene – the grave of the Ukrainian hero
Shortly after Christmas 2023, Ukrainian soldiers buried their comrade Vasyl Boichuk in the village of Ilty.
Topic: keystone / evgeniy maloletka
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