“Recruitment of ‘contract soldiers’ up to KRW 5.32 million per month”… I looked through the job postings

picture explanationSoldiers of the 1st Engineer Brigade of the Russian Army in training on January 18. [타스 = 연합뉴스]

Russia, which suffered a large loss of troops due to the prolonged invasion of Ukraine, began a large-scale recruitment with cash compensation. It is a method of enlisting as a contract worker, but it is a form of recruiting a variety of positions from soldiers to officers.

On the 11th, multiple Russian job posting sites posted notices looking for people to work in Ukraine during the ‘special military operation’ in the form of a contract with the Russian military.

According to the notice, the contract is signed with the Russian military authorities from a minimum of six months to a maximum of one year, and those who sign the contract will be deployed to operations in government agencies or serve as special forces.

An announcement said that ‘teamwork’, ‘PC operation’, and ‘multitasking’ were selected as core skills, although experience was unnecessary. In addition, there was a notice that gave preference to those who have experience in combat, those who can operate a grenade launcher, and the commander of the airborne squadron.

One post recruiting soldiers and non-commissioned officers offered 200,000 to 250,000 rubles per month as a contract condition. Converted into Korean Won, the amount ranges from about 4258,000 won to 5,322,500 won. There are announcements that offer up to 7 million won per month depending on the position or rank, such as an officer.

In addition to the salary, other benefits include housing and medical services, pension, health insurance, severance pay, and free higher education for those who have worked for more than three years.

In this regard, the New York Times (NYT) reported on the 10th (local time), before the Ukrainian War, the monthly salary of a Russian soldier was only about 200 dollars (about 260,000 won) for a private soldier. Citing Russian human rights group Civil Military Law, the New York Times reported that “most of the veterans of the war owe significant debt.”

The reason that the Russian military began recruiting with cash compensation is interpreted as the accumulated loss of troops as the war continued.

The Russian military has not disclosed the exact number of casualties since it invaded Ukraine on February 24.

However, the Ukraine Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security announced on the 24th that Russia had lost 34,700 troops in the war. At that time, the center explained that 1511 Russian tanks and 217 aircraft were destroyed.

[이상현 매경닷컴 기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]

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