Russian Officials Now Paying Bounties to Individuals, Groups and Firms which Get Others to Sign Up for Military Service

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 10 – Moscow has taken another step to ensure that enough Russians sign up for military service in Ukraine by launching programs in numerous federal subjects that pay bounties to individuals, groups and firms which get others to sign up for military service, the Vyorstka news service reports.

            While not as large as the bonuses offered to the men themselves, these payments are significant – from 5,000 to 350,000 rubles (50 to 3500 US dollars) – and individuals may multiply their earnings to getting more than one man to sign a military contract (verstka.media/kak-rossiyane-zarabatyvayut-otpravlyaya-drug-druga-na-voinu).

            In April, such payments were being made in at least nine federal subjects (verstka.media/dobrovolci-svo-verbovka); but the program appears to be effective and has likely  been extended to others, leading to a thriving business of bounty hunters who view such arrangements as a useful way to boost their incomes.

            But more important than that, a program of this type highlights just how many difficulties Moscow is having in filling the gaps lost by its mounting losses in Ukraine, losses that according to some estimates now total more than a million killed and wounded – and also Putin’s propensity to believe that money alone can solve the problem of recruitment.