Intelligence update
3770 euros pay and bonus: Moscow recruits immigrants
Russian soldiers are preparing to launch a 152.4mm Msta-B howitzer based at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. photo
© Uncredited/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP/dpa
Russia is trying to persuade immigrants from Central Asia to join the military with promises of rapid naturalization and high pay. One of the places where people are recruited is in mosques.
According to British intelligence experts, Moscow is luring immigrants from Central Asia with high pay and fast-track naturalization procedures in its recruitment efforts. Recruiters are on their way to mosques and immigration centers, according to the daily intelligence report on the war in Ukraine from the Ministry of Defense in London. At the immigration authorities, Tajik and Uzbek speaking staff routinely attempted to recruit migrants.
According to the report, advance bonuses of the equivalent of 2165 euros and a salary of up to 3770 euros per month are offered. In addition, there is the offer to obtain Russian citizenship within six months to a year – normally this would only be possible after five years. According to the British experts, the recruitment attempts are likely to be partially successful. “These recruits will probably be sent to the front sections in Ukraine, where the casualty figures are extremely high,” it said.
The effort is part of the Russian Defense Ministry’s goal of recruiting 400,000 volunteers to fight aggression against Ukraine. “The authorities are almost certainly trying to delay any overt forced mobilization as long as possible in order to minimize domestic dissatisfaction,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Defense in London has been publishing daily information on the course of the war since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, citing intelligence information. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign.
Notice from the UK Ministry of Defence