- Will Vernon
- BBC News, Volosovo, Western Russia
17 minutes ago
Western officials say tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the war began
The city of Volosovo, near Saint Petersburg, is thriving, not economically, but with its loudspeakers becoming increasingly popular.
Like many cities in Russia, Volosovo installed it on tall pillars that line the main street. Loudspeakers are traditionally used to play national music during national holidays. Now, it has a different purpose.
A voice from loudspeakers said, “Two battalions of volunteer artillery are being formed. We invite men between the ages of 18 and 60 to join.”
It is a message repeated in all regions of this vast country. On social media, television and billboards, men are urged to sign short-term contracts with the military to fight in Ukraine.
The authorities launched a recruitment campaign for the Russian army in the face of the heavy loss of life during the conflict.
I stopped a man on the street in Volosovo and asked him if he supported calling in volunteers. “Yes! If I were young, I’d go, but I’m old now, we should bomb them!” he said to me, clenching his fists.
But most of the townspeople seem less enthusiastic. One woman complains:[الحرب] It is very painful even to talk about it.” She stresses: “Killing your brothers is wrong.”
I asked her what she would say if one of her relatives wanted to join, and she said, “Why are they going? Only their bodies will be returned.”
Many of the bodies are already back.
photo released, Archyde.com
Recruitment videos urge young people to join the Russian army
Russia did not give figures, but Western officials say that between 70,000 and 80,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since it launched its invasion six months ago.
In order to attract new recruits, the authorities offer volunteers huge sums of money, plots of land and even privileged places for their children in Russian schools.
Even recruiters would visit Russian prisons to register inmates, promising freedom and money.
Investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov says the recruitment drive is a sign of desperation on the part of the authorities: “This is not the kind of soldiers needed for a victorious war. The Kremlin still hopes that quantity will triumph over quality. And that they can get hundreds of thousands of desperate people out of their debts and throw them in the conflict zone.
Despite the cash offered to potential recruits, up to $5,700 per month in some cases, Roman says the reality is different:
“People don’t actually get that money. They come back [من أوكرانيا] Now they tell us journalists how they were deceived. This also affects the current situation, this lack of confidence in our government, so I don’t think this strategy will work.”
But some are happy to join.
Yevgeny, the son of Nina Chuparina, left their village in the North Karelia region to join a volunteer battalion. Nina says her son, who had no military experience, obtained a weapon and was sent directly to Ukraine.
He was killed a few days later. He was 24 years old.
Nina Choparina says she tried to stop her son from fighting in Ukraine
Nina agrees to meet me in a park near Moscow, where I found part-time work in a bread factory. She says the monotonous task of packing loaves makes her think about losing her son.
She remembers begging her son not to go to Ukraine.
“I tried to get him out of it,” she says. “I cried, and I said, ‘There’s a war, you’re going to be killed!’ My mom told me, ‘Everything will be fine,'” she says.
Nina criticizes how the authorities are recruiting volunteers to fight in Ukraine.
“They just send them in like chickens!” she says. “They’ve hardly had a gun before. They’re cannon fodder. The generals say, ‘We’ve got a volunteer, great!”
But not everyone is as keen on recording as Yevgeny.
Traveling around this country, you don’t get the impression that all of the Russian people are behind the “special military operation”, as the Kremlin likes to call it.
Yevgeny Choparin was killed days after joining the Russian army to fight in Ukraine
The number of cars on Russian roads bearing the pro-war “Z” symbol is still relatively low. Experts say the number of volunteers joining is low.
Military analyst Pavel Luzhin says that people here are not ready to sacrifice themselves for their president.
He continues: “The problem with the Kremlin is that most Russians will not die for Putin or for the restoration of the ‘great empire’.”
Conscription is not possible in the present circumstances because there is no civilian consensus in Russia on war.
“Compare that with Ukraine. The Ukrainians are ready to fight,” he adds.
With thanks to Alla Konstantinova from Medizona.