Russian official assigned to recruit migrants and unemployed for war in Ukraine

The Office of the Permanent Representative of Russia’s President in the Central Federal District has appointed a plan for regional authorities to recruit migrants, unemployed and bankrupt people, people in debt and other vulnerable members of society for contract military service.

Source: Vazhnye Istorii, a Russian newspaper

Details: The publication writes that Igor Shchyogolev, Permanent Representative of Russia’s President in the Central Federal District, has ordered to "provide weekly information on the work of authorities regarding the involvement of citizens in concluding contracts with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation according to the prescribed form".

Vazhnye Istorii published a letter with a mandate and a special form with 22 categories of the population, which the Russian authorities want to send to war with Ukraine first.

Quote: "It can be concluded that the Ministry of Defence alone cannot recruit the necessary number again. Therefore, the executive power is given the tough task of joining the recruitment efforts and purposefully conducting it among the oppressed layers of migrants, people in debt, that is, those who can be coaxed in some way. Signing the contract is still voluntary, but you can persuade or set some conditions, or make life unbearable," commented the head of the Citizen Army Law public movement, Sergey Krivenko.

A Russian soldier who works at a recruitment centre for contract military service in a military unit outside the Central Federal District told the newspaper that the authorities bring to them "drunks, the homeless, people with obvious developmental delays, junkies who have just come out of jail…It feels like they are getting rid of marginalised people. The quality of the army is unimportant to them. 'They will dig trenches,' they say."

Krivenko admits that the authorities may hold a second wave of mobilisation in the spring if they cannot recruit the required number of people. A Russian military officer said that the representatives of the authorities responsible for recruitment repeat as one: "Only mobilisation will save us (from dismissal)."

Background: On 25 October, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, boasted of his plans to expand the Russian army next year. It is planned to form another army corps, 7 divisions, 19 brigades, 49 regiments and one flotilla next year, Medvedev said.

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