As the country moves to mobilize its factories, a recruitment drive is also underway for workers who can help rebuild the devastated areas where Russia has already claimed victory. Russia has enjoyed some military success in recent weeks with the capture of Lysychansk, which now gives it full control of all of Luhansk, an area in eastern Ukraine that was partially controlled by Russian-backed separatists before the invasion of Ukraine in February 24. But Russia’s bloody conquest came at a great cost to its own army, both in lives and equipment.
Open source research finds big losses
According to one open source research which analyzed images posted online, Russia has lost thousands of tanks and armored fighting vehicles, which have either been damaged, destroyed, abandoned or captured. “It’s starting to show its impact because Russia started the initial offensive with a lot of relatively modern tanks and gradually replaced them with equipment that is 30, 40 years old and now even older,” said Jakub Janovsky, who collaborated on a recent open code. Janovsky, who lives in the Czech Republic, works in telecommunications. But in his spare time, he logs on to his computer and — with other online researchers — tracks military equipment being deployed in Ukraine. They scan social media for images and record the individual pieces of equipment in a database. Along with other online researchers, Jakub Janovsky tracks Ukrainian and Russian military equipment destroyed in the war. He says both soldiers have suffered huge casualties, but Russia has lost thousands of armored fighting vehicles. (Submitted by Jakub Janovksy) It previously did the same with military campaigns in Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan. Janovsky and his peers record vehicles and aircraft only if they can find images of individual pieces of equipment, and their recent report notes that actual losses are likely “significantly higher.” In an interview with CBC News, he said it was “ridiculous” to listen to Russian President Vladimir Putin he preaches on July 7 that Russia has yet to seriously “start anything” in Ukraine. “If they keep losing troops and equipment in Ukraine, there won’t be any Russian troops left there,” Yanovsky said.
The Kremlin emphasizes the importance of the bills
Given how many of its military vehicles have been damaged or destroyed, Janovsky said it’s no surprise that Russia would want to pass legislation to force factories and workers to produce more equipment. Two bills pass the Russian parliament. The first account, which would require companies to fulfill defense contracts, passed both the lower and upper houses of parliament. The another bill would make a change to the labor code that requires workers to work overtime. It is still awaiting approval from the Upper House. Both bills would have to be approved by Putin. People get a close-up view of a damaged Russian tank on display in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, on Monday. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th. (David W Cerny/Reuters) When the bills were introduced, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said the importance of their adoption could not be overstated as the “collective West strengthens its military presence on Russia’s borders”. Even if the proposed legislation is signed by Putin, Pavel Luzin, a St. Petersburg-based expert on international relations and the country’s military, said he is skeptical the laws will be enough to rebuild the military or mobilize the population. . In an analysis piece written for Enigmaan online publication on political issues in Russia, Luzin predicts it will take at least four years to restore Russia’s armored vehicle capacity to where it was before the invasion and 10 years to replenish its missile stockpile. Pavel Luzin, an expert on international relations and the Russian military based in St. Petersburg, says he is skeptical that the proposed legislation in parliament will be enough to rebuild the Russian military or mobilize the population. (Pascal Dumont/CBC) In a Press release On July 3, Ukraine’s defense ministry claimed that it was becoming increasingly difficult for Russia to repair tanks and other combat vehicles at factories due to ongoing tension between the Russian government and the factory owners. Ukraine claims business owners have instructed their employees not to accept the equipment because factories don’t have enough parts to repair the vehicles and aren’t paid enough to repair them. CBC News was unable to verify any of these claims. In an email to CBC News, Luzin said he believes the new laws, if enacted, won’t be enough to bring in all businesses and workers. “Russian society is stressed and demoralized,” he wrote, suggesting that some will not go out of their way to help the Kremlin even if it “tries to force people to support its aggression.”
Russia is hiring workers
While Russia is mobilizing industry, it is also recruiting workers to rebuild damaged Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol, which are now under Russian occupation. Online job postings boast high salaries and try to appeal to a sense of patriotism. An ad, aimed at workers living across Russia, promises the teams will work to “rehabilitate” Donetsk and Luhansk — part of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine — this fall, and guarantees free meals, transportation and forms. Advertisements posted on the online website Avito offer workers jobs to rebuild the strategic port of Mariupol, which was largely destroyed by Russian airstrikes. (Screenshot/Avito.ru) Another ad, when translated into English, says: “Brigades for the restoration of Mariupol” and promises an advance of 50,000 rubles (Cdn$1,040) and an additional 3,500 rubles (Cdn$73). It says minibuses of workers leave Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia every week for the Donbass region. The city is located about 120 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Tatiana Sporisheva, a controller and activist living in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, says she doesn’t know anyone willing to sign up for the project in Ukraine. (Briar Stewart/CBC) Tatiana Sporisheva, an auditor and activist who lives in Rostov-on-Don, told CBC News that many in the city believe the war is getting closer to their community and don’t know anyone who wants to sign up for the project. “It’s very likely that there will probably be people who will go to make money. But there will be a minority of those people,” she wrote in a messaging app chat with CBC News. Instead, he believes that people will be pressured by the authorities to go to Eastern Ukraine. Sporisheva said there has been talk of recruiting teachers to go to Donbas, and a Russian Telegram channel titled “We are together,” translated into English, promotes groups of students and psychologists volunteering in the region. The channel has published many photos of Russian teams handing out aid and working in classrooms. This photo was posted on a Telegram channel documenting the efforts of Russian volunteers in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine. These students were helping to restore a monument in Donetsk and would participate in clearing the ruins. (Мывместе/Telegram ) In a post on Monday, the account praised a student group that distributed food packages, including baby food, to residents in Luhansk. At the bottom, the post reads, in Russian, “#wedontabandonourown” and “#For the President.”
