May 27, 2025

Job Ads Lead to the Front Line


Job Ads Lead to the Front Line
Readiness check of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division.  Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Wikimedia Commons

The independent publication Verstka uncovered a scheme in which individuals are recruited into the Russian army with the promise of work as drivers, security guards, or construction workers, with reassurances that the roles are non-combat and unrelated to military activity in Russia's ongoing War on Ukraine. However, these roles fall under general contracts with the Ministry of Defense, which do not offer such guarantees.

In recent weeks, increasing numbers of men have been arriving at Moscow’s military contract recruitment center, hoping to secure multimillion-ruble payments while avoiding front-line deployment. A source in the Moscow mayor’s office, familiar with army recruitment data, told Verstka that this trend is new.

“This definitely didn’t happen before, but now literally every day someone says, ‘I’ll just go as a plumber,’” the source said.

Dozens of misleading job ads have appeared on Avito, Russia’s largest classified ad site. Employers using names such as “Zashchitniki Rodiny” (“Defenders of the Motherland”) or “ZOV — Okhrana Tyla” (“ZOV — Rear Guard”) offer roles as humanitarian aid drivers, fortification builders, and guards for newly occupied territories.

Many of these ads were posted in recent months, some as recently as May. Despite promising rear-area work, the listings almost always involve signing a military contract that includes combat.

A Verstka journalist responded to one such ad and quickly received a message via WhatsApp from a man claiming to be with the Moscow administration. He described the process: The applicant submits paperwork to the administration, receives a train ticket to Smolensk, travels there, undergoes a medical exam, signs a contract, and is supposedly assigned to an engineering unit as a builder.

Recruits are told they’ll be trained in their chosen specialty and assigned to relevant units. However, two sources in the Moscow mayor’s office told Verstka that these roles and administrative processes do not exist.

“This is a shameless scam,” said one source, adding that the military is behind the scheme and is working with contractors to draw more men into the war.

One source explained how the deception works: A man from a regional town sees a driver job ad on Avito, travels to a shady office in Moscow, and is told he’ll be transporting supplies under a one-year contract — supposedly in the “gray zone,” a term often used to describe areas near active combat.

“Everyone profits from these men — the internet recruiters, the travel organizers, the contract officers, even the military,” the source said.

Ads are often posted by recruiters who identify themselves as working for “military recruiting agencies.” Two such recruiters confirmed to Verstka that promises of rear-area jobs are false.

“They’ll say, ‘Yes, come, we give you a 100% guarantee you’ll be in a construction battalion or a driver,’” one recruiter said. “But it’s the unit commanders who decide everything. If they assign you as a rifleman, you can’t get out of it.”

Another recruiter said it’s impossible to know where a so-called volunteer will be deployed. According to Verstka, the scam primarily targets men from small towns and rural areas. Recruiters often cover travel expenses to Moscow or other cities and process the recruits upon arrival.

You Might Also Like

Russian Soldiers Want Peace
  • May 08, 2025

Russian Soldiers Want Peace

Independent outlet Verstka interviewed Russian soldiers about a potential ceasefire and the objectives of the war.
With Prayers and Drones
  • April 28, 2025

With Prayers and Drones

Dozens of Orthodox military-patriotic clubs across Russia prepare children for war.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals
[INVALID]
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955