This has been asked by readers from time to time. Why is is that Russians are still signing up to serve a volunteer soldiers? This is especially the case in poorer rural regions. This is more money than many people can make back home, assuming they can get a job.
We should not feel that superior. After all, we do have a form of this. It is called a poverty draft. The pay of contract troops is better than ours because they have a draft. However, in theory, draftees cannot be used near the combat lines. That they are is a different story:
How much is the occupier worth?
Despite high losses, the number of people wishing to enlist in the army in the Russian Federation is not decreasing. The main motive for those who volunteer is money. Let’s see how much they promise the Russians for participating in the war. All salaries and payments are indicated in rubles. The data was obtained from sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense and at the group’s headquarters. The exact amount of payments may vary in different departments, but the order of the numbers is correct.
The salaries below are for those who entered into a contract after September 21, 2022. The contracts concluded before the announcement of mobilization in the Russian Federation are much scarcer. From 26,000 to 86,000 rubles for privates and junior officers and 116,000 to 242,000 for officers. The transition from an old contract to a new one, despite statements by the Ministry of Defense, is only possible for those who have connections and friends at headquarters or in Moscow. Because of this, conflicts regularly arise in units between old contract soldiers, mobilized ones and “volunteers”. The same problem has led to systematic extortions, which are being carried out by those who have been fighting since February 2022 on mobilized and “volunteer” people.
Shooter/private contract service — 204,000 rubles
Machine gunner/grenade launcher/driver/cook/sapper — 211,000
Senior driver/senior sapper — 216,000
Signalman/telephone operator — 219,000
Head of the radio station/commander of the command and staff communications vehicle — 228,000
Squad leader — 232,000
Platoon commander (lieutenant) — 272,000
Company commander (senior lieutenant, captain) — from 296,000 to 341,000
Battalion commander (captain, major, lieutenant colonel) — from 382,000 to 457,000
Brigade commander/BTG commander — from 470,000 to 522,000
Instructor — from 260,000
Staff officer (rank from captain to colonel) — from 382,000 to 470,000
Helicopter pilot — from 522,000
Airplane pilot — from 522,000“Akhmat” mercenaries, who are recruited through the special forces university in Gudermes, as well as mercenaries of other formations
Without combat experience/private assault unit — 290,000
With combat experience/private assault unit/junior command staff — from 370,000
With combat experience, with experience in assault operations, reconnaissance, raids, electronic warfare, mine-explosive operations — from 450,000
Unit commander — from 580,000To this are added one-time payments for concluding a contract with the Ministry of Defense. Federal — 195,000 and regional — 100,000 (in some regions of the Russian Federation, regional payments can reach 1,500,000). Payment for injury from 3,460,000 federal and regional to 1,200,000. The family of the deceased is promised 7,000,000 from the federal budget, 5,500,000 insurance payment, regional funeral payment and compensation from 700,000 to 3,000,000 depending on rank and awards deceased. If a serviceman dies and his body is not recovered, then he is listed as missing in action. In this case, the family is not entitled to any payments. In the Russian Armed Forces, up to half of the dead are listed as missing.
Payments for “achievements”
For being in the “north zone” (on the territory of Ukraine) — 6,000 per day
For advancement in assaults — from 20,000 per 1 km
For defensive battles — from 4,000 per day
For damaged equipment, killed soldiers, prisoners — from 150,000 to 1,700,000
For a successful reconnaissance operation — from 55,000Payments for “achievements” almost never reach the soldiers and officers in the units. Most often they are distributed at headquarters, going to senior officers and generals and superiors in the Ministry of Defense. In rare cases, payments are still brought to the lower level. Then they spread throughout the entire unit. Payments for “intelligence operations” can reach up to several million rubles. This is one of the most popular types of “achievements” at headquarters — you can attribute as much as you like to anyone and keep most of it for yourself.
@Volyamedia
The fact that they are leaving people behind is also relevant. It’s one way to cut down on the losses of the war. This brings me to May First and the immortal regiment. This is significant as well because Russia is going out of its way to reduce reports of the dead:
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