With Talk of Peace, Russians Massively Signing Up for Military Service Apparently Hoping to Get Big Bonuses and Credit for Volunteering at Less Risk of Having to Fight

Paul Goble

    Staunton, Apr. 11 – Since talks about an end to the fighting in Ukraine began earlier this year, Russians are signing up in unprecedented numbers, apparently in the hopes of getting the sign-up bonuses still being offered and credit for doing so without the risk of actually going into battle.

    That conclusion is suggested by two new articles which report that both in the regions and in Moscow, the number of men signing up has gone from a few dozen a day to more than a hundred since talk of peace in Ukraine has become more frequent (verstka.media/v-moskve-rezko-vyroslo-chislo-zhelayushhih-podpisat-kontrakt-s-minoborony and sibreal.org/a/na-fone-peregovorov-o-mire-v-regionah-naraschivayut-kampaniyu-po-naboru-kontraktnikov-/33362214.html).

    As both report, Russian officials are celebrating these increases as evidence of growing patriotism and the impact of the government’s propaganda machine; but in fact, they point to just the reverse, the way in which Russians are asking what’s in it for them and seeking to game the system to their individual benefit.

    There are likely at least a few in the Kremlin who understand that and who recognize that this does not bode well if Putin does not end the fighting in Ukraine soon or tries to launch another war without better justification – and there should be some in Western governments who realize what this means in terms of Putin’s negotiating position.