Putin is calling on the Russians to take up arms: reservists can expect so much pay

Created: 09/24/2022, 06:28

By: Stephanie Munk

Russia needs more soldiers in Ukraine and is relying on the mobilization of reservists.

Financial incentives are also intended to entice the Russians to take up arms.

Moscow - 300,000 Russians are to go to the front - this was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (September 20).

In a TV speech, he let his people know that he had initiated the partial mobilization of the armed forces.

Apparently, the first draft notices were sent out immediately.

Thousands of men have already fled the country, reports the dpa news agency on Friday, September 23.

Men who are called up would be given the same status and pay as current contract soldiers, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.

But how much is that?

Partial mobilization in Russia: how much money do reservists receive?

Finding that out is no easy task.

Research by the Russian investigative platform "Project" analyzed and published the pay and social background of the Russian soldiers in May.

The pay of a simple soldier is therefore around 50,000 rubles per month, the equivalent of around 730 euros.

That sounds like starvation wages.

But so far many of the soldiers fighting in Ukraine have come from the poorest regions of Russia.

According to research by “Project”, the average income there is only around 300 euros per month.

For people who can hardly make ends meet, this pay can therefore be an incentive to enlist in the army.

Especially since, according to a report by the "Spiegel Daily" podcast, social benefits and advantages are added and members of the military are highly regarded in Russian society.

Putin needs a treat: Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

© IMAGO/Sergei Bobylev

Pay for Russian soldiers: reports of lavish sums for fighting in the Ukraine war

At the end of May - three months after the start of the war - Putin also ordered higher military pay for Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

How much more pay there has been since then remained unclear.

However, a report in

in June speaks of conspicuously lavish conditions: "Salaries of at least 200,000 rubles a month, around 3,000 euros, are promised to future career soldiers, which previously only mercenary troops like the Wagner Group received," it says.

With higher rank and experience, the pay is even higher.

A young Ukrainian describes in the report that he was even offered around 4,500 euros a month - more than seven times what he normally earns.

Ukrainian soldiers who fight against Russian troops also receive substantial salaries, as the dpa reported at the end of May: In addition to their military pay, they receive a special bonus of 100,000 hryvnia (around 3,150 euros) per month or 3,000 hryvnia per day.

Partial mobilization in Russia: First regions pay surcharges for reservists

Russia is now apparently also relying on financial incentives for partial mobilization.

The regions are responsible for the mobilization and some of them have already promised special bonuses: The Russian capital Moscow wants to pay every conscripted Muscovite an additional 50,000 rubles (830 euros) per month, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Thursday, September 22.

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In the case of a serious wound, one million rubles should be paid, in the case of a light wound half.

When a soldier dies, the family receives three million rubles, i.e. almost 50,000 euros.

According to the TASS agency, the Kursk region and the Udmurt republic also promised cash allowances.

Partial mobilization: Kremlin announces improvements and laments “hysteria”

The Russian leadership also announced some improvements in the partial mobilization on Friday, at the same time the Kremlin complained about "hysteria" in the country.

The head of the Defense Committee in the Russian Parliament, Andrei Kartapolov, explained that the law on mobilization does ban reservists from leaving the country.

However, because it is a partial mobilization, the law will not be applied.

Travel within Russia and abroad is therefore allowed.

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At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Defense declared that reservists with certain professions were excluded from forced recruitment.

For example, IT specialists, experts for securing the financial system or employees of the mass media, who belong to the "system-preserving" professions, do not have to go to the Ukraine war.