Large Russian companies are involved in a scheme to lure Russian citizens and foreigners into mercenary groups to participate in Russia's war against Ukraine. Ads offering money from companies in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and many other regions of Russia are circulating in social networks, UNN reports with reference to the research of the Sistema project..
Details
The Kremlin has not officially announced a new wave of mobilization, but the Ministry of Defense of the occupying country continues to recruit people for the russian armed forces. In this connection, a scheme in which large companies play an important role is operating in Russia. According to the Sistema investigative project, Russian companies are fictitiously employing Russian citizens and foreigners. The "employees" are then sent to the Russian-Ukrainian front after receiving up to 405,000 rubles (4,422 dollars).
A new recruit can claim a cash bonus based on two courses of action:
- In the first case, the recruit is fictitiously employed by the company and receives a one-time payment or salary from the company, which will be accrued in addition to the salary from the rf ministry of defense.
- Another scheme involves signing a contract at a regional military service selection center and receiving a payment from a special fund of the Russian Federation.
The locomotive of recruitment with extra pay was Moscow: the first announcements in social networks with the offer of lifting money from state enterprises, and then private companies appeared in April 2023.
Later on, the rest of Russian regions picked up the practice of social network invitations for service. "Sistema found recruiters' advertisements mentioning St. Petersburg, Moscow region, Tatarstan, Samara, Volgograd, Yaroslavl and Vologda regions.
Radio Liberty has reported on the construction company of St. Petersburg billionaire Igor Bukato, Revival. According to journalists' information, this is the first private firm in St. Petersburg to become known in the context of recruiting people for the russian war in Ukraine.
An employee of the company's HR department confirmed to a Sistema correspondent that by mid-spring 2024, 20 people had left Vozrozhdeniye for the front. Conditions: a person is fictitiously employed by a construction company, receives an additional payment (400 thousand rubles, or more than 4000 dollars), and then - goes to the Russian military registration office to sign a contract with the rf Ministry of Defense.
The organizers of the scheme may be two committees subordinate to the government of St. Petersburg: the construction committee and the committee for the development of transport infrastructure, writes the publication.
Help
"Vozrozhdenie" is the construction company of St. Petersburg billionaire Igor Bukato The company's revenue in 2023 amounted to 21 billion rubles ($248 million). One of the firm's main activities is road and transportation construction, which is not without close contacts with the St. Petersburg administration.
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