The mayor of Irkutsk ordered that cans of baby formula be sent to the front lines for the troops

Irkutsk Mayor Ruslan Bolotov stated that employees of the city’s perinatal center have been sending used baby formula jars to participants in the war against Ukraine for two years now. According to him, the containers are used to make trench candles and to store food.

He added that the Irkutsk City Perinatal Center donates the used cans “to support the soldiers.”

“At the Irkutsk City Perinatal Center, used baby formula jars are being sent to support the soldiers. The staff decided that if there is a way to give the containers a second life, we should take advantage of it,” the mayor wrote.

Ruslan Bolotov states that several batches of such cans have already been sent to the front lines over the past two years.

“The material is good; it can be used to make trench candles. The containers are also suitable for storing grains, sugar, and anything else you might want,” said the mayor of Irkutsk.

In addition, according to Bolotov, the children and grandchildren of the perinatal center’s employees write letters to soldiers, draw cards, and send “warm wishes for a speedy return home” to the front lines.

Russian media outlets also reported on this initiative. However, after the media attention following the publication, Bolotov edited his post, removing the phrase stating that “the city’s youngest residents are also helping the front lines.”

According to conservative estimates cited by “Mediazona” and the “BBC,” during the full-scale war, 1,067 Irkutsk natives who died on the front lines have been identified by name.

Given that Irkutsk’s working-age male population is approximately 165,000 people, confirmed losses among this group of city residents amount to about 0.65%, according to these estimates.

According to these data, the total confirmed casualties in the Irkutsk region amount to 6,550 people. This figure refers only to those whose deaths could be confirmed using available sources.

At the same time, sociologists at the Levada Center have noted a decline in the proportion of Russians who are collecting money or supplies to support participants in the war against Ukraine.

According to the study, in September 2025, 42% of respondents reported providing such aid, compared to 28% in August 2026. This figure was lower only in December 2022, when it stood at 27%.

According to the Levada Center, by November 2023, the proportion of those who had helped the military had risen to 40% and remained at roughly that level in 2024–2025.

In August 2026, one in four respondents also reported that over the past 12 months they had collected supplies or money to help those involved in the war. The survey was conducted from August 18 to 28, 2026, among 1,600 adult respondents in 137 settlements across 50 regions of Russia.

Bolotov wrote about this on his Telegram channel.

As a reminder, Rosstat has stopped publishing the exact number of Russians whose incomes fall below the official poverty line. Currently, the agency only publishes the percentage of the population below this threshold—in the first half of 2026, it stood at 7.5%.

In Russia, there is a trend toward a reduction in the number of employees across various sectors, including IT, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, retail, consulting, and other business services.

The Russian Ministry of Finance forecasts a sharp increase in regional budget deficits to $21 billion.