Orphans in Russia lured to war with promises of apartments
In Russia, authorities are attempting to offset significant losses at the front by offering orphans priority access to housing in exchange for signing contracts to participate in combat operations against Ukraine.
This was reported by the Centre for Countering Disinformation.
According to the Centre, although the law obliges the state to provide orphans with apartments upon reaching adulthood, waiting lists for housing stretch over decades, and there are no real guarantees of actually receiving one. Vulnerable young people, lacking a home of their own, agree to such conditions.
There have been documented cases in which entire groups of orphanage graduates were sent to the front, most of whom were killed before they could benefit from the promised privileges.
The Russian authorities resort to this method due to a shortage of volunteers, even when high pay is offered. Exploiting the social vulnerability of orphans has become a new tool to encourage signing military contracts.
The Kremlin continues to rely on prisoners as expendable resources in the war against Ukraine.
The US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates total Russian military losses (killed and wounded) in the war against Ukraine at nearly 1.2 million. The Kremlin has denied these figures: Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged people “not to believe” these estimates, even though official statistics from Russia’s Ministry of Defence have been concealed for over three years.
