1/ Russian convicts are refusing en masse to join the army, even to serve as officers, according to Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin. He says that nobody believes the Russian Ministry of Defence's promises any more and recruiters are unable to persuade men to go to their deaths. ⬇️
2/ Girkin, a former FSB officer who is currently imprisoned for 'extremism' (i.e. criticising the war effort for being insufficient), writes:
"Today, the military came by to recruit volunteers for the "assault" for officer positions."
3/ "They spoke with me, but again, they simply shrugged their shoulders: recruiting those with "extremist" charges is prohibited. And no one else (except me) has expressed any interest in joining for a long time.
4/ "They asked, "What does it take for volunteers to appear?" – I answered honestly that no one else believes the Russian Ministry of Defence – they've heard it all before (and many have experienced it firsthand).
5/ "For new people willing to put their lives on the line to emerge, [the right] conditions are needed, roughly like those at Wagner, and a guarantee of their fulfillment (to which the guests sympathetically remained silent).
6/ "I declined their request for recommendation / convincing [other prisoners], saying (also completely honestly) that "...if you're going to persuade people to go to their deaths, you have to go yourself, and if they don't take me, then how can I call anyone to the slaughter?"
7/ "They also sympathetically remained silent—since both visitors (this time) behaved decently and both had fought well, evident from their stories and their demeanor. He also told them that "many are ready to go and fight upon mobilisation" (and that's also true)."
8/ It should be noted that Girkin is not being held in an ordinary prison, but reportedly is in the IK-5 penal colony in Kirovo-Chepetsk in the Kirov region, which specialises in holding ex-security officials.
9/ As such, it might be expected to be a good recruiting ground for army officers. However, with Russian losses running at an estimated 20,000-25,000 a month, many prisoners have unsurprisingly chosen to wait out their sentences instead. /end
Source:
t.me/strelkovii/7302
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