More pay than a doctor plus bonuses: Putin advertises with high merits for new soldiers in the Ukraine war.
Can he compensate for Russia's losses?
Moscow – New incentive system for Russia's army: Because of the high losses in the Ukraine war, President Vladimir Putin is now enticing new soldiers with high earnings and bonus payments.
For example, recruits in the country's recruitment agencies are to be offered a salary that is higher than the salary of a doctor or a software developer.
This is reported by the independent news platform
Meduza
.
Can the lure offer bring about a turnaround in the stuck spring offensive?
How much money do you get as a soldier?
Putin advertises bonuses for recruits for the Ukraine war
According to the media report, Russian President Vladimir Putin is running advertising campaigns on all social networks.
Accordingly, new recruits are offered a one-off payment of $3,800 (3,500 euros) for enrolling in the army.
In addition, a further 2600 dollars (2400 euros) per month beckon in war service - which is far in excess of the salary of a Russian doctor.
What's more, Putin also lures new recruits with bonuses for the Ukraine war.
For every kilometer at the front that the soldiers postpone in favor of Russia in Ukraine, they should get an additional 650 dollars (590 euros).
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Bonus for enrolling: Russia's army is courting new soldiers in the Ukraine war.
© IMAGO/Maksim Blinov
War in Ukraine: Advertising with high earnings is intended to compensate for losses in Russia's army
The Kremlin is thus reacting to the high losses that the Russian army recently suffered in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
Especially in the region around Bakhmut, the battles are extremely bloody.
Much of the information cannot be independently verified.
But observers agree that 500 to 600 Russian soldiers are killed every day.
Markus Keupp from the ETH Zurich Military Academy recently criticized Putin's troops in Bachmut in a conversation with the news portal
t-online.de
.
The soldiers are "simply cannon fodder".
He even estimated Russia's losses at six times that of the Ukrainian defenders.
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Against this background, the Russian Ministry of Defense is forced to continue recruiting.
After Putin initiated the mobilization of 300,000 reservists months ago, more volunteers are now to be lured with money.
According to the Ukrainian secret service, the Kremlin is said to be planning to increase the number of its troops by another 300,000 soldiers.
Other sources recently even assumed 500,000 additional workers.
However, this information has not been confirmed.
Despite the large number of recruits, Putin's spring offensive has stalled in the Ukraine war
But from Putin's point of view, the pressure to act is great.
During the winter, the fighting was largely stuck in a trench warfare.
A major Russian offensive was expected in the spring.
So far, however, Russia has hardly been able to report any progress at the front. On the contrary: the attempted Russian advance could soon flag again, the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) recently wrote in an analysis.
Other experts have also come to a devastating verdict on the Russian offensive - despite the large number of soldiers at the front.
"If 300,000 Russian soldiers were not able to give Russia a decisive offensive superiority in Ukraine, then mobilizing additional forces in future waves of mobilizations this year is very unlikely to produce a significantly different result," the statement said ISW report.
Ukraine is therefore in a good position to start counter-offensives again on critical sections of the front.
(
jkf
)
List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Maksim Blinov