There is a shortage of Russian personnel to conduct offensive and defensive operations despite incentives from the Kremlin, which since the beginning of the year quadrupled payments for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense.
This is stated in a commentary by the Center for European Policy Analysis.
In August, the average one-time payment reached 596,000 rubles (about $6,700), equivalent to more than 6 months' average salary. Combined with the additional federal payment of 400,000 rubles, a contract soldier now receives almost one million rubles ($11,500) upon enlistment.
Even with these payments, which are huge for most Russians, Moscow has recruited far fewer contract soldiers than the Defense Ministry claims.
Despite tight government controls on the media, information about the staggering loss of life at the front is spreading. British military intelligence claims that Russian dead and wounded are already over 500,000, sometimes exceeding 1,000 a day.
Refusal to fight - the only way to save your life
According to the investigation of the website Histories, many of them decided that refusing to fight was the only way to save their lives.
Russian regions have achieved only 50-60% of their 2023 troop recruitment targets, and the downward trend in troop numbers continues.
Vladimir Oblast, east of Moscow, sent fewer contract soldiers to the front in April this year than in February and was forced to further reduce its recruitment targets for Ukraine.
Some recruiting services now focus on forcing recruits and mobilizing those already at the front to sign contracts.
„Drowned“ from requests of conscripts who want to escape
After Ukraine entered the Kursk region, the number of people willing to fight did not increase, despite the Kremlin's appeals to Russian patriotism. On the contrary, the human rights defenders stated that they were “drowned“ from requests from conscripts who want to escape the new war zone.
Get Lost, an organization formed soon after the war began, helps those who don't want to fight. According to activists, more than 34,000 people have already received her help.
Vladimir Oblast, east of Moscow, sent fewer contract soldiers to the front in April this year than in February and was forced to further reduce its recruitment targets for Ukraine.
Some recruiting services now focus on forcing conscripts and mobilizing those already at the front to sign contracts.
„Drowned“ from requests of conscripts who want to escape
After Ukraine entered the Kursk region, the number of people willing to fight did not increase, despite the Kremlin's appeals to Russian patriotism. On the contrary, the human rights defenders stated that they were “drowned“ from requests from conscripts who want to escape the new war zone.
Get Lost, an organization formed soon after the war began, helps those who don't want to fight. According to activists, more than 34,000 people have already received her help.
The group provides legal support by advising would-be conscripts of their rights, helping them challenge the illegal conduct of military recruiting services and, if legal methods fail, helping them to hide from military authorities in Russia and abroad.
They have also extracted people from the front line and secretly organized their escape from the country.
The attitude of obedience and the habit of unconditional fulfillment
No less important is the psychological support offered to potential deserters. The project's founder, Grigoriy Sverdlin, says the decision to defy the system or go into hiding is a difficult one, and people should properly consider the psychological impact before making such a decision.
The alternative is slightly better - an attitude of obedience and a habit of unconditionally following government orders often results in people who don't want to fight being on the front lines.
Psychologists working at the organization say the “paternalistic culture” in which most Russians grew up makes it difficult for them to stand up to state authorities or public opinion.
In a country where lawlessness prevails and protective mechanisms such as the police, press and courts do not function properly, people feel dependent on the state or other bodies that can offer protection.
Psychologist Ekaterina Krongauz has noticed that people often mechanically follow the procedures: accept a draft, report to the military recruitment office, etc. Even then, they can believe until the last moment that they will not be sent to the front.
Some seek help from Get Lost only after they have already been sent to war - after experiencing their first battle or injury. Grigory Sverdlin openly admits that he advises surrendering to the Ukrainians if desertion from the front is not an option.
Volunteers who initially went to the front for ideological reasons, before realizing how different reality is from propaganda, have also started looking for help, according to Daria Berg, Head of Relief and Evacuation at Get Lost.
Professional soldiers who chose their careers before the invasion and for moral reasons do not want to participate in the war are also turning to human rights activists. Many of them deserted after being wounded, realizing they would be sent back to the front.
In addition to sending conscripts to the Kursk region, human rights activists report that they have received dozens of appeals from all over Russia - from the Murmansk region to the Krasnodar region.
Ivan Chuvilyaev, the spokesman of the organization, states that sending conscripts from the spring recruitment in 2024 to the Kursk region is illegal, since young people who have served for less than 4 months cannot be sent to the .name anti-terrorist operation.