Large posters with explicit messages plastered on the side of the roads, videos on social networks… The Russian authorities are using the means to try to seduce. The largest military recruitment campaign has been launched by Moscow since the start of the war in Ukraine. Its goal: to swell the ranks of the army against the possible counter-offensive of kyiv in the spring. Why does Russia urgently need to recruit? Does this campaign make sense? Can it seduce a part of the population. 20 minutes takes stock of the issue with Michel Goya, historian, strategist, and former colonel.
Why does Russia need to seduce to recruit?
In September 2022, after several military setbacks, Vladimir Putin decreed forced mobilization. A decision which had led to the flight of tens of thousands of men across borders and which had offended public opinion. With this campaign of voluntary mobilization, the Kremlin wants to “avoid a new shock”, explains to AFP Denis Volkov, director of the independent study center Levada.
“The power tries to give a heroic image of the commitment, to make this act more attractive at the social level. He does not want to have to organize a forced mobilization again, even if such an action can continue to be held more discreetly, adds our expert. On the population side, some may be attracted by the salaries, and also say to themselves: ‘If I volunteer, I could perhaps choose my unit’”.
The salary promised to a soldier deployed in the area of operations in Ukraine amounts to more than 200,000 rubles, more than ten times the minimum wage. “Premiums are also raised,” says our specialist.
Can this campaign meet the needs of the Russian army?
The soldier needs of the Russian army are massive and continuous. “The army had to freeze the contracts of professional soldiers, who usually enlist in the form of a short contract of a few months, so that they remain fighting until the end of the war”, analyzes Michel Goya, who specifies that the army already needed troops before the start of the war.
Several hundred thousand soldiers killed, desertions, the creation of new units… So many factors that push the Kremlin to act to recruit. Some of the recruits could also be found among the conscripts.
“After two months of military training, they can be engaged in operations. The advantage is that they have already had a taste of military life, they know what to expect by enlisting,” explains our expert, who adds that recruitment will have to be important if the war continues at this level of intensity. Because the objective of the Russians is clear: to hold the occupied zones in spite of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in preparation.
Can the manly arguments of the campaign hit the mark?
“You are a man, be it. The advertising spots for this recruitment campaign play on virilist codes in an attempt to gain the support of the population. In a video clip, we can see a security guard, a young man in the weight room or even a taxi driver, with the idea that all three would give another turn to their lives by embracing a military career.
“Our job, defending the homeland”, dictates a slogan inscribed on posters. The point of view that the point of view that “it is good for every man to serve (in the army), it is a school of life” is strongly rooted in this patriarchal society, evokes Denis Vlokov, interviewed by AFP.
The campaigns have “always been a bit like that, on this theme, which corresponds to Russian society”, recalls Michel Goya. The power seeks to attract men by all means to avoid a new wave of forced mobilization. Even if Vladimir Putin recently passed a law that could facilitate this action if necessary.