The city of Volosovo, near St. Petersburg, is dominated by loudspeakers.
Like many cities in Russia, in Volosovo there are loudspeakers installed on tall poles lining the main streets. They are traditionally used to broadcast music during the national holidays . Now, however, they have a different purpose.
“Two volunteer artillery battalions are being formed. We invite men from to join a 60 years“, shout the speakers.
It is a message that is repeated throughout this vast country. On social media, television and billboards, men are urged to sign short-term contracts with the army to fight in Ukraine.
Given the significant losses of soldiers in the conflict, the Russian authorities have launched a recruitment campaign for the army.
I stop a man on the street in Volosovo and ask him if he supports the call for volunteers. “Yes! If I were young I would go, but I am too old”, he assures him, clenching his fists. “We should bomb them!”
However, most people seem less enthusiastic. “[War] is too painful to even talk about,” says one woman. “Killing your brothers is wrong.”
I ask him what he would say if one of his relatives wanted to join. “Why go? Only their bodies will be returned”.
And many bodies are.
Signal of desperation
Russia does not publish figures, but Western officials say that between 65.000 Y 80. Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since President Vladimir Putin’s government launched its invasion six months ago.
To attract new recruits, the authorities offer volunteers huge sums of money, land and even privileged places for their children in Russian schools.
Recruiters have even visited prison
Investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov says that the campaign of Recruitment is a sign of desperation on the part of the authorities: “These are not the kind of soldiers needed for a victorious war. The Kremlin still hopes that quantity can win over quality. That they can capture hundreds of thousands of desperate people with their debts and simply throw them into the conflict zone”.
Despite the staggering amounts of cash offered to prospective recruits (up to $5.700 a month in some cases), Dobrokhotov says that the reality is different.
“People do not see this money“, he says. “They are returning [from Ukraine] now and are telling us journalists how they were deceived. This is also influencing the situation, this lack of trust in our government, so I don’t think this strategy will succeed”.
However, some are happy to join.
Nina Chubarina’s son, Yevgeny, left his village in the northern region of Karelia to join a volunteer battalion. Nina says that her son, who had no military experience, was given a gun and sent directly to Ukraine.
He died a few days later. I had 24 years.
Pain from relatives
Nina agrees to meet me in a park near Moscow, where she has found part-time work in a bread factory. She claims that the monotonous task of packing bread takes her mind off the loss of her child.
She remembers begging her not to go to the Ukraine. “I tried to dissuade him. I cried. I told him: ‘There is a war, they will kill you!’ He said: ‘Mom, everything will be fine’”.
Nina criticizes how the authorities recruit volunteers to fight in Ukraine.
“They just send them out like silly chicks! They had barely held a weapon before. They are cannon fodder. The generals think: ‘We have a volunteer: great, go ahead!’”.
Not everyone is willing to enlist like Yevgeny.
When traveling through this country, one does not get the impression that the Russian people are totally behind the “special military operation”, as the Kremlin likes to call it.
The number of cars on Russian roads displaying the “Z” symbol, in favor of war, is relatively low. Experts say that the number of volunteers who join is also.
Military analyst Pavel Luzin believes that people are not ready to sacrifice themselves for their president.
“The Kremlin’s problem is that the majority of Russians are not willing to die for Putin or for the restoration of the ‘great empire’. Conscription is not possible under the current circumstances because there is no civilian consensus in Russia for war.
“Compare this with Ukraine. The Ukrainians are ready to fight ,” he added.
Athankssfor Alla Konstantinova de Mediazona.
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