Video summary of the war Ukraine - Russia: July 29 3:58
(CNN) --
Across Russia, volunteer battalions are being formed to deploy to the war in Ukraine, joining the so-called "special military operation" declared by President Vladimir Putin in February.
From Murmansk in the Arctic Circle to Perm in the Urals and Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East, the call has gone out, appealing to both the patriotism and the wallets of Russians.
Relevant military experience is not always required.
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In all, analysts estimate that more than 30,000 volunteers could be mobilized to supplement Russian ranks consumed by five months of fighting, with between a quarter and a third of the force could be sent to win eastern Donbas.
Last week, Richard Moore, head of MI6, the UK's secret intelligence service, told CNN's Jim Sciutto that "the Russians will find it increasingly difficult to provide manpower and materiel over the next few weeks."
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Putin has long resisted the idea of a general mobilization in Russia, and this spring's call was similar to that of 2021. These battalions are a way to increase Russia's military manpower without taking such a drastic step. .
They also seem to target the poorest and most isolated regions, using the lure of fast money.
What impact these battalions can have is an open question.
Chechen volunteer units have played a very important role in the Donbas campaign, especially in Mariupol.
But they are relatively well equipped and have extensive military experience.
The battalions that are assembling elsewhere are clearly not.
Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia researcher at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, says: "Some battalions will engage exclusively in combat support and combat support operations (such as logistics or signals battalions), while others will reinforce military units. existing ones or will form combat battalions".
But he adds: "Short-term training is unlikely to turn volunteers with no prior experience into effective soldiers in any unit."
CNN has sought comment from the Russian Defense Ministry on the volunteer battalion program.
Patriotism and Cash
Stepanenko says that the process is being driven from Moscow.
"According to reports, the Kremlin ordered the 85 Russian federal subjects (occupied regions of the Russian Federation plus Crimea and Sevastopol) to recruit volunteer battalions to avoid declaring partial or full mobilization in Russia."
But the regions are expected to help fund the recruitment, which she says "puts a lot of pressure on regional budgets."
Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, for example, had to set aside about $2 million for the project, Stepanenko said.
The qualifications required to join vary from place to place.
An online flyer in Kazan in Tatarstan said: "We invite men under the age of 49 who have previously served in the army and offer a contract for 4 months in their military specialization."
This recruitment poster, which calls for "real men" up to 49 years old to join the fight in Ukraine, promises high salaries, as well as training and insurance.
Elsewhere, men up to age 60 with no criminal record are eligible.
Prior military experience is often not required for online ads.
The post, titled "A Job for Real Men," seeks "brave, bold, courageous, confident, extraordinary, well-rounded patriots of our nation."
According to publications, about a month is allotted for training, not much for a situation where recruits have little or no military experience.
According to standard Russian Defense Ministry policy, all recruits who sign a contract are required to have four weeks of combined arms training.
It is unclear if that same regimen is being extended to all volunteers.
Some of the volunteer battalions have already passed through the Mulino training camp near Nizhny Novgorod, according to social media posts.
Volunteer contracts are typically four months to one year.
They promise wages much higher than the average in Russian regions.
For example, battalions being formed in Perm and the western Russian region of Kirov offer income starting at 300,000 rubles a month (about $5,000), while in Bashkortostan, near the border with Kazakhstan, the minimum is 280,000. rubles.
The Bashkir Volunteers of Bashkortostan are promised an additional 8,000 rubles per day for combat operations.
An advertisement circulating on social media channels in Bashkortostan read: "During the summer you can easily earn about a million rubles!"
The average monthly salary in these areas is between 30,000 and 45,000 rubles, about a tenth of what a volunteer can receive if deployed to the front.
Volunteers take part in a four-week training course in Primorsky Krai in Russia's Far East, learning shooting and other basic military skills.
There are also other advantages.
In Perm and Kirov, children of volunteers are promised preferential admission to universities.
Volunteers will be granted "combat veteran" status, granting them a monthly stipend for life and discounts on housing and transportation.
And there is a scale of compensation for casualties on the battlefield, in some cases more than 3 million rubles for serious injuries.
If a volunteer dies, his family would receive 12.4 million rubles from the federal budget and 2 million from the region.
Some volunteers told the online publication Verstka that they are motivated by wages, so that they can, for example, build a house.
Others seem inspired by patriotism;
some seem to just want an adventure.
One, named Vitaly, told Verstka: "I respect the achievements of our ancestors, and it's hard for me to see them being spit on. And, of course, there is the nice bonus in the form of payments that the government offers."
Others told Verstka they were inspired to rid Ukraine of Nazism, an indication of the power of Russian state media, which has relentlessly covered up the notion that Russia's move is to de-Nazify Ukraine.
If all Russian regions each generated a battalion, the cost would be considerable.
Kateryna Stepanenko estimates that a 400-man unit would cost $1.2 million a month in salaries, which she says is expensive given that the program will not produce elite units.
From the Arctic to Central Asia
Chechen volunteers were the first to enter Ukraine shortly after the invasion began.
The Vostok Battalion saw action at Mariupol, where it was prominently involved in infantry operations.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov frequently extolled the Vostok Battalion.
In late April, Kadyrov said on his Telegram channel that "hundreds of brave soldiers from different corners of our huge country have decided to join the Russian liberation army."
And in May, he said that 200 "warriors of goodwill" were graduating from the Russian University of Special Forces in Gudermes and leaving for Ukraine every week.
By some estimates, as many as 8,000 Chechens have gone to fight in Ukraine.
They have been heavily involved in the campaigns to take Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.
Buryatian volunteers in the Russian Far East were also involved early on;
several have been killed, including one known for fighting in Syria.
More recently, other Russian regions have stepped up.
An outstanding case is the republic of Bashkortostan.
A retired naval officer, Alik Kamaletdinov, announced on social media that he was recruiting for a volunteer battalion because "Bashkiria has always been a pillar of our state in difficult times... Let's support our country and our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin." Not with words but with deeds!"
Bashkortostan Governor Radiy Habirov posted on Telegram last week: "Today we are firing the 2nd Bashkir battalion in Donbas."
"Thus, more than 800 volunteers, all sons of Bashkortostan, will go to defend our country and brother Donbas."
Other regions that have started raising volunteer battalions include Chelyabinsk in the Urals and Primorsky in the Russian Far East.
Photos of almost 300 volunteers from Chelyabinsk were published last week.
The head of the recruitment office in Tatarstan, Evgeniy Tokmakov, told a news conference that "the battalions should be formed only from natives of Tatarstan, so that they can join the ranks, stand shoulder to shoulder, get to know each other."
Several units of Cossack fighters are also being formed, which is not surprising given that they were heavily involved in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The Orenburg region has already sent three Cossack battalions to the war.
The pace of recruitment is accelerating: In recent days, the Murmansk regions in the Arctic Circle and Tyumen in western Siberia announced the formation of volunteer units.
"A Crowd With Rifles"
It is not yet clear how these battalions — most are smaller than a regular battalion — will be integrated into the Russian operation.
Tatar and Bashkir units will be converted into motorized rifle battalions.
The volunteer battalion formed in Primorsky Krai will be made up of local residents only and will go in support of the 155th Guards Marine Brigade, according to regional authorities.
There are signs that the Russian labor shortage in Ukraine is starting to bite.
The Center for Countering Ukraine Disinformation says it has found vacant positions for more than 20,000 Russian contract soldiers at regional employment centers.
There have been persistent reports that some battalion tactical groups have had to reconstitute.
But as one analyst puts it, a battalion is more than "a crowd with rifles."
Stepanenko of the Institute for the Study of War said "these poorly trained recruits are likely to be used as cannon fodder, given Russia's previous treatment of recruits and power units."
It is hard to imagine how these disparate groups with no knowledge of the battlespace and rusty or non-existent military skills will influence the conflict.
The task of the infantry among the Russian forces has largely been to occupy places already destroyed by indirect fire.
Still, Stepanenko said, the Russians "continue to take heavy losses without gaining much ground. Therefore, they require a constant influx of Russian manpower to make up for their losses."
The Ukrainian army is following the formation of the units.
Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate, said Russia plans to raise 16 new battalions by the end of July.
He told the Krym.Reali online portal that "according to our estimates, there will be about 4,000 people in each region, including Crimea."
Skibitskyi confirmed to CNN that his comments had been accurately reported, but declined to provide further details.
Stepanenko believes that the ultimate goal is a form of stealth mobilization.
“Putin seems to have no confidence that the polls and protests in support of the war will survive a general recruitment effort.
Recruitment for volunteer battalions or covert mobilization affects only a small percentage of servicemen and their families,” Stepanenko said.
"Such separation allows Putin to control the appearance of the invasion without upsetting the majority of the Russian male population and their families."
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