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Russia has launched a new campaign seeking volunteers to replenish the country’s troops for the war in Ukraine.
Advertisements promise cash bonuses and other benefits, recruiters make cold calls to eligible men, and enlistment offices are working with universities and social service agencies to lure students and the unemployed.
As fighting grinds on in Ukrainian battlegrounds like Bakhmut and both sides prepare for counter-offensives that could cost even more lives, the Kremlin’s war machine badly needs new recruits.
A mobilisation in September of 300,000 reservists – billed as a “partial” call-up – sent panic throughout the country, since most men under 65 are formally part of the reserve. Tens of thousands fled Russia rather than report to recruiting stations.
The Kremlin has denied that another call-up is planned for what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, now more than a year old.
Meanwhile, a man in Moscow has told the Associated Press that his employer, a state-funded organisation, gathered up the military registration cards of all male employees of fighting age and said it would get them deferments. But he said the move still sent a wave of fear through him.
“It makes you nervous and scared – no-one wants to all of a sudden end up in a war with a rifle in their hands,” he said. “The special operation is somewhat dragging on, so any surprises from the Russian authorities can be expected.”
It has been more than a week since he handed in his card, he said, and exemptions usually get resolved in a day or two, heightening his anxiety.
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