Putin’s tin soldiers. Novaya Gazeta Europe reports that 80 percent of Russian state officials who enlist in the Ukraine War are opting out of real service

Meduza.io

A Russian serviceman during combat training in Ukraine.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, more than 100 lawmakers and state officials at both the federal and regional levels have vowed to serve in the armed forces and pitch in on the battlefield. However, according to a new investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe, the vast majority of these men decided against enlisting fully with the military. The news outlet found that 18 public officials signed up to evade criminal prosecution, 20 have done absolutely nothing since declaring their combat readiness, and at least 62 officials and lawmakers have served only as volunteers under unique, preferential conditions, far from the fighting. Meduza reviews Novaya’s findings.

Half of the state officials known to have enlisted to fight in Ukraine did so in 2022, within the first 10 months of Russia’s full-scale invasion. This figure dwindled in 2023 and then more than doubled to 23 in 2024. The highest-ranking official who’s expressed his intention to join up is Senator Viktor Bondarev. Though Bondarev holds a colonel general’s rank, Novaya Gazeta reporters could not confirm that he’s been officially reinstated into active service. Besides Bondarev, 18 State Duma deputies have also said they want to fight in Ukraine.

In 2024, six officials and one lawmaker from the Belgorod region alone enlisted in Russia’s armed forces. Admittedly, all seven served in the volunteer unit “BARS-Belgorod,” which focuses on protecting border areas and assisting local residents. None of them entered combat zones, and three of these officials returned from service within a month.

Officials from Russia’s Belgorod region aren’t the only public servants who joined volunteer formations instead of signing full-fledged contracts with the Defense Ministry.

According to Novaya Gazeta, at least 49 of the 70 public servants who chose military service did the same. Journalists were unable to determine where 10 of these public officials ultimately served. Novaya found that only 11 officials and lawmakers joined regular military units. Of these men, just eight served under standard military conditions: two were wounded, and three were killed. The remaining 62 officials served in volunteer units, in rear positions, or were unusually active in civilian life during their service, indicating that they enjoyed special privileges denied to ordinary enlisted soldiers.

Service in Russia’s volunteer formations is radically different from signing a contract directly with the Defense Ministry, Novaya journalists explain. Volunteers do not receive the one-time signing bonuses that have generated so much press in Russia, but they are not required to serve for the duration of the war in Ukraine. In fact, service in a volunteer formation is typically no more than three or six months. Service contracts can be terminated at any time in the BARS-Belgorod unit, where the Belgorod officials served.

The vast majority of Russia’s men now deployed to Ukraine — mobilized draftees and contract soldiers — have no such privilege and must remain at the front until the end of the war, however long that takes.

Of the state officials who enlisted in the war, half served for no more than six months. There are 31 lawmakers and public officials serving today, but nine of these men joined up less than six months ago, and it’s unclear if they intend to stick it out with their fellow soldiers in the long term.