For fighting, not cooking
Moscow apparently wants to send female soldiers to Ukraine
October 24, 2023, 3:39 a.m
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So far, women in Russia’s war in Ukraine have only been deployed as medics and in the kitchen. That could soon change, a mercenary unit is now calling women to take up arms. Apparently President Putin wants to avoid further mobilization for the time being.
Russia has begun recruiting women for combat missions in its war against Ukraine, according to media reports. The independent Internet portal istories wrote that the “Redut” mercenary unit, which is subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Defense, was recruiting female snipers and drone operators. So far, women in the Russian military have only been employed as medics and in the kitchen.
The female soldiers are offered a half-year contract with a monthly salary of around 2,200 euros. In the event of an injury, there is a bonus of 30,000 euros; in the event of death, around 50,000 euros should be paid out to the surviving dependents. Corresponding advertisements appeared on the Russian social network “Wkontakte”. A female recruit told stories that they were primarily looking for women who were already experienced in handling weapons. Beginners would be trained on the weapon within a month.
The first reports about Russia’s efforts to attract female soldiers appeared in the summer. However, these should be used domestically. At that time, state television broadcast images of an all-female combat unit in the Russian region of Belgorod on the border with Ukraine. At the beginning of March, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke of 39,000 women in the Russian army.
Russia has been waging its war of aggression against Ukraine for 20 months. Losses on both sides are considered high. According to the British Ministry of Defense, Russia has so far suffered around 150,000 deaths or serious injuries. There has been no official information about this from Moscow for months. Because of the unexpectedly high number of losses in his army, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially announced the mobilization of 300,000 reservists last fall. The Kremlin said at the time that there were no plans to recruit women. Experts assume that, given the presidential election scheduled for spring 2024, the Kremlin wants to avoid further mobilization until then and is therefore increasingly recruiting volunteers.