Russian region offers rewards to residents who convince friends and family to fight in Ukraine – POLITICO

As TV Rain and other independent Russian media reported, the authorities of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan are offering money to those residents who convince their friends or relatives to support Russia in its war in Ukraine.

The commission that anyone who refers a friend to the military can collect was initially set at 50,000 rubles (about 525 euros) on Tuesday, but was later doubled. According to Russian media, the new campaign to promote military recruitment was advertised on government websites, pro-government media sites and local forums.

Tatarstan is home to two million of Russia’s 5.3 million Tatars, a Turkic people. These ethnic minorities have borne the brunt of Russia’s war in Ukraine, with a disproportionate number killed in combat. The Buryats, a Mongolian ethnic group from southeast Siberia who make up only about 0.3 percent of Russia’s population, have suffered 1.16 percent of war casualties, the highest proportion of any ethnic group in the country. Chechens are also reportedly fighting in Ukraine in large numbers.

Their disproportionate use in the war sparked isolated protests in the country, including in Dagestan in September 2022.

Tatarstan had previously increased the lump sum payment for new recruits, which together with other bonuses now amounts to 1.5 million rubles (15,725 euros), making it one of the highest in the country.

The anti-war NGO Idite lesom (a Russian pun meaning “walk through the forest” but also a milder form of “fuck you!”), which helps Russian citizens desert or avoid conscription, warned about the campaign on its Telegram channel, telling the story of a man who had his passport taken away and was possibly drafted against his will while drunk.

Russia has struggled to recruit new soldiers since invading Ukraine in February 2022. In January, Moscow raised the maximum age for conscription for men from 27 to 30 and also recruited lay soldiers without military skills or experience.