Starting from October 1, conscription begins in Russia. There are rumors that conscripts will not be sent to the front lines. Political technologist Abbas Gallyamov shared his thoughts on whether these rumors should be believed in an interview with Unian.
"No, of course not. Maybe they won't send a person in the status of a conscript to the front lines, but they will immediately apply such pressure and strong influence to make that person sign a contract. They have made the necessary changes to the legislation. And formally, the law will be followed: conscripts won't go to the front lines, but contractors will. But physically, these will be the same people.
After the first wave of mobilization, which was deemed highly ineffective and detrimental to loyalty, the authorities realized that it's a tool they'd better not use. It didn't work well for them. As a result, the authorities have put enormous efforts into recruiting contract soldiers.
People say that you can't enter a shopping center without immediately being bombarded over the loudspeaker about signing contracts. The service is advertised on every possible advertising medium.
Medvedev is overseeing this effort. Since April, he has had no other tasks. There is fierce competition among the regions for contract soldiers. The wealthier regions offer additional payments and attract potential recruits from neighboring regions. For example, Moscow and St. Petersburg offer higher pay to contract soldiers and lure residents from, say, the Bryansk region to join the military. This is necessary to "check the box" and fulfill the task set by the federal authorities. In other words, internal competition has begun. The entire regional administrative apparatus is also focused on this. All members of regional governments have specific recruitment quotas that they must meet for the army within a certain timeframe" said Abbas Gallyamov.
