Cash-for-conscripts plan sparks concern over abuse in Russian provinces

If residents of the Yaroslavl Oblast near Moscow bring a recruit to the military enlistment office, $1,550 will be given to them. A similar solution has been implemented in the Republic of Tatarstan. In this way, Russia aims to attract more men to the army, who will then be sent to Ukraine.

"Russian politicians are offering $1,350 for every recruit who is enlisted into the military by their acquaintance," reads polsatnews.pl. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), "the problem" related to recruitment "is intensifying." Fewer and fewer Russians are willing to go to the front and are reporting to the enlistment offices.

Therefore, Mikhail Yevrayev, who manages the Yaroslavl Oblast near Moscow, proposed that one can receive the equivalent of $1,550 for bringing an acquaintance or family member to the military enlistment commission.

However, this solution is risky, according to Yuri Sinelshchikov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Legislation. He believes that Russians "might abuse it." The second issue is the budget, which could be problematic if there are many volunteers.

And there is no shortage of them. "As reported by the Russian opposition portal Cherta, a large portion of individuals sign contracts to make money to pay off debts incurred from gambling."

Russians want to keep conscripts in the country. Therefore, the Kremlin is developing a system to prevent potential soldiers from leaving. Moscow is implementing an "information exchange system" between the Ministry of Defence and the Federal Security Service (FSB), aimed at transferring data on potential conscripts to the FSB Border Service and preventing them from leaving the country. This system is to be fully operational before this year's fall conscription.

Russia conducts two drafts annually, resulting in more than 250,000 people being conscripted into the military annually.