Russian women are reportedly searching the internet more frequently for ways to enlist their husbands in military service following a sharp rise in contract payments from the Ministry of Defense in 2024, according to Ura.ru.
Spike in Searches for Enlistment
Statistics reveal that searches for information about sending husbands to the front have surged.
In July, there were 3,500 such queries, increasing to 4,200 in August. Before the summer of 2024, this type of information was rarely searched.
Questions like “How to send an ex to the SVO” (Special Military Operation) have also risen significantly, with over 2,300 searches in both October and November.
A report by Important Stories highlights that average one-time regional payments for signing military contracts reached 897,000 rubles ($9,240) by the end of 2024.
This is more than five times higher than the 168,000 rubles ($1,730) offered a year earlier.
When combined with federal payments of 400,000 rubles ($4,120), new contract soldiers now receive an average of 1.3 million rubles ($13,360) upfront—equivalent to a year and a half of wages for the average Russian worker.
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Regional Payment Variations
All Russian regions, including annexed Crimea and Sevastopol, increased enlistment bonuses in 2024 to address military personnel shortages. Some highlights include:
Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions: Up to 3 million rubles ($30,880), with 2.6 million rubles ($26,770) from regional budgets.
Moscow: 2.3 million rubles ($23,690).
St. Petersburg: 2.1 million rubles ($21,630).
Minimum payments: 800,000 rubles ($8,240).
Military expert Pavel Luzin points to the economic incentives behind this trend.
“There is an obvious shortage of people willing to sign contracts in the quantities that the military needs, given the current level of losses in the Russian army and the intensity of military operations,” he explained, as cited by the Moscow Times.
