From vodka to the frontline: A Russian soldier's regret

The Russian emphasizes that he decided to sign a contract with the army because he needed money for vodka and alcohol, confessing that he was completely drunk at the time of signing.

The officer came looking for people. I signed a contract with the army in August 2023. I received a paycheck card but lost it because I was drunk, explains the Russian.

Dagayev Andriej Vladimirovich, the man in question, is from the Russian Belgorod Oblast. Over the past years, he indulged in what he enjoyed most - drinking. Then, the "motherland" decided not to let him die of liver cirrhosis and sent him to Ukraine.

We are being sent to slaughter, we are like cannon fodder for them - admitted the captive Russian soldier, who has not yet sobered up but has already realized how Russia conducts wars.

The captured man says the Russians are sent to fight with two magazines of ammunition. He apologizes to Ukrainians for coming to Ukraine and vows he will not fight anymore.

I survived shelling. Then I found no one. It got dark, I wandered back and forth in the forest for three days. Then I found railway tracks and wanted to return. I went inside, and there were Ukrainians - recounts Vladimirovich.

Men, primarily from poor and remote regions of Asia, such as Tuva near the border with Mongolia, are being recruited to the Russian army. Interestingly, since the beginning of the mobilization, household bank deposits there have increased by over 50 percent.

The unusual increase in account balances is due to incomes from soldiers’ pay (salaries) and compensations paid for serious injuries or deaths in the war.

Officially, the Russian authorities do not publish information about the number of mobilized individuals and their places of residence or the human losses incurred on the front. However, insights into the extent of the Russian mobilization can be garnered from data analysis from regional banks in Russia.