The Russian military is recruiting new members to fight in Ukraine and is presenting this as “the decision of a true man” by offering at least £2,300 a month as an incentive.
To recruit “contract soldiers” for the “special military operation,” as the Kremlin’s invasion of the neighbouring nation is known, the army has set up mobile offices.
At one location in Rostov, a city in southern Russia, soldiers in camouflage and black masks displayed their firearms to onlookers and distributed colour booklets with the heading “Military service on a contract – the option of a true man.”
Neither Russia nor Ukraine discloses their military losses, which western intelligence agencies estimate at tens of thousands on both sides.
Moscow has not updated the official death toll since 25 March, when it said 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded.
The Kremlin said last week there was no discussion of a nationwide mobilization to bolster its forces.
But the recruitment drive signals Moscow needs more men, coming in the wake of frontline setbacks.
The officer in charge of the Rostov truck said Russians and foreigners aged from 18 to 60 with at least a secondary school education would be eligible.
“Patriotically-minded citizens are choosing to sign contracts for three or six months to take part in the special military operation,” major Sergei Ardashev said, promising training for everyone.
The minimum monthly wage on offer is 160,000 roubles (£2,292), which is almost three times the national average.
One potential recruit was musician Viktor Yakunin, who said: “I would love to serve in the airborne troops,” he said. “My parents brought me up since childhood to love my homeland, to protect the Russian world. I believe the power is with us.”