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Over 100 mobilized troops in Chuvashia, Russia, have rebelled in the Ulyanovsk training center over the lack of payment (they are due ~$3,100) and recorded a video of their demands from the command and the government. Their appeal to “the citizens of the Russian Federation” has been published by the human rights advocacy group Gulagu.net and the Angry Chuvashia Telegram channel.
According to their statement, the mobilized Russians refuse to wage war in Ukraine and “will seek justice” until they are paid the due amount. The recruits are also trying to find out where their commanding officer is.
“Dear citizens of the Russian Federation! This is a statement by the mobilized servicemen of the Republic of Chuvashia! At our own peril, we are risking sure death for your safety and peaceful life! Our state is refusing to pay us compensation in the amount of 195,000 rubles promised to us by our president Vladimir Putin! Why should we wage war for this government, leaving our families without support?”
In one of the videos, a mobilized soldier says that, when he was enlisting, the military commissar explained to him he was due a lump-sum payment of ~$4,800. “Aye, aye! Exactly what they told us!” his comrades shout. In response, they are told that a bill to that effect had been considered but had been dropped after one hearing. The mobilized shout to the deputies that they should “give up their f*cking party cards” and go to war in Ukraine themselves. The men complain that the authorities have “f*cked them over”.
In a video made after dark, the recruits shout: “One for all, and all for one!”
According to Angry Chuvashia’s sources, OMON riot police and Russian Guard troops have arrived to quell the riot.
Russia already has a history of the mobilized complaining about commanders, equipment, and supplies. In the last month alone, dozens of videos to that effect have surfaced online. In October, mobilized soldiers in the Penza Region released a video statement complaining about their commanders and the governor. Mobilized troops in Bashkortostan also recorded a video appeal to officials, complaining of “very poor” conditions their commanders were keeping them in. They claimed they had no food or water, and once the video was released, they were deployed to the front without training. On October 5, Russian social media saw a video of enraged mobilized soldiers in the Belgorod Region. The men in the video claimed they had been issued written-off munitions and 1970s firearms, that they had not been assigned to any military unit and had been going without supplies for a week.
Since Putin declared a “partial” mobilization, Russian officials have been denouncing reports of equipment shortages. However, even official public resources recommend recruits to bring their own quadcopters and night vision goggles, while particular military units advise buying armored vests and wound dressing materials in advance. The Insider also learned that, as the wives of mobilized Russians argue in Telegram chats, equipping a man for war costs around $2,500. The women are indignant about having to spend family money on this.