প্রকাশ: 18/09/2022
The Russian army, seeking contract soldiers for what it calls the
"special military operation" in Ukraine, is using mobile recruiting
trucks to attract volunteers, offering nearly $3,000 a month as an incentive.
A special
unit stationed one such truck in a central park in the southern Russian city of
Rostov on Saturday and removed the sides to reveal a mobile office.
Soldiers
in camouflage and black masks showed their guns to interested passersby and
handed out colour brochures titled "Military service on a contract - the
choice of a real man."
Neither
Russia nor Ukraine disclose their military losses, which Western intelligence
agencies estimate at tens of thousands on both sides.
Moscow has
not updated the official death toll since 25 March, when it said 1,351 Russian
soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded. The Kremlin said last week there
was no discussion of a nationwide mobilisation to bolster its forces.
But the
recruitment drive shows Moscow needs more men. The officer in charge of the
Rostov truck said Russians and foreigners aged from 18 to 60 with at least a
high school education would be eligible.
"Patriotically-minded
citizens are choosing to sign contracts for three or six months to take part in
the special military operation," major Sergei Ardashev said, promising
training for everyone.
The
minimum monthly wage on offer is 160,000 roubles ($2,700), which is almost
three times the national average.
One
potential recruit was musician Viktor Yakunin, who said he had always been
attracted by the idea of military service and was now collecting necessary
documents.
"I
would love to serve in the airborne troops," he said. "My parents
brought me up since childhood to love my homeland, to protect the Russian
world. I believe the power is with us."
Inside the
truck, Yakunin sat down with Ardashev, who told him the next step would be a
mental examination. If he passed that, there would be physical test of speed,
strength and endurance.
If all
went well, Yakunin would "arrive at a military unit, enroll in a specific
division, (and) from that moment you begin military service".
Outside
young men, some with families, looked a temporary exhibition showing pictures
of official heroes of the conflict, alongside a big sign that read
"Tradition of victory".
($1 =
59.5000 roubles)
- Reuters
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