Regions in Russia want to attract volunteers to serve on the front lines in the war of aggression against Ukraine by offering high bonuses. Moscow in particular wants to score points here.
The Russian capital Moscow wants to attract more volunteers for the war effort in Ukraine and will offer a bonus of 1.9 million rubles (around 20,000 euros) as a one-off payment upon signing the contract. According to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, all previous special payments for soldiers sent from the capital to the front will also be retained. In the first year, the total annual income would be 5.2 million rubles (more than 54,000 euros). This is several times the average Russian salary.
Recently, many Russian regions have massively increased the bonuses for signing a volunteer contract in order to recruit even more soldiers for the war. This is intended to avoid a new partial mobilization. In autumn 2022, a forced recruitment of reservists ordered by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin triggered protests and a wave of refugees abroad. The power apparatus is therefore trying to solve the personnel problem of supplying the front with money.
Regions promote war efforts with special bonuses
In Moscow, as in many Russian cities, posters advertise deployment to the front. Often, the billboards also directly display the sums of money that are attractive to many Russians. Because many people, especially in the provinces, earn little, deployment to war is seen as a relatively easy way to quickly make a lot of money, which is a lot by Russian standards.
According to official figures, only about 45,000 men have registered for military service in the metropolis of Moscow since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. With the new financial incentives, Mayor Sobyanin is likely to want to be better off than the country’s average.
The Defense Ministry announced this month that 190,000 Russians had signed contracts to fight in the war since the beginning of the year. The ministry itself is paying a one-time bonus of 195,000 rubles (about 2,000 euros).
Source: Stern
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