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

Some of Our Books

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

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.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

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.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
The Latchkey Murders

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...
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

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