• Moscow is trying to recruit Russians to fight in Ukraine.
• Russian propaganda videos promote patriotic, decent, and economic males.
• A video shows a young man buying a car with military pay.

Despite the Kremlin’s denial that it needs fresh recruits, Moscow has launched a new drive to persuade Russians to join the military and fight in Ukraine.

Russian propaganda videos that have recently been put on social media are attempting to appeal to Russian men by telling stories of patriotism, morality, and upward socioeconomic mobility in an effort to recruit more volunteers to the front.

One of the movies, which was published on December 14, shows a young man who surprises everyone by purchasing a car with the money he earned while fighting on a military contract instead of partying with his male buddies.

In a different video that was published on December 15, the soldier’s ex-girlfriend expresses how moved she is by his heroism and begs him to reconcile with her.

Another example depicts a middle-aged man quitting his underpaying manufacturing job in order to sign a military contract and enlist in the army.

Another of the videos shows a group of 30-something, well-off Russian men loading a car as they are asked by elderly women where are they going.

One of the men replies: “To Georgia. Forever.” When one woman spills a bag of groceries, the men just get into the car and leave, instead of helping, while younger Russian men rush to pick up the groceries. “The boys have left, the men stayed,” one of the elderly women concludes.

Many of the videos present the conflict as a way for men to escape the depressing daily reality of drinking vodka, living in poverty, and feeling helpless.

Reports and complaints about supplies and equipment shortages in the Russian military are coming out in the meantime.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, declared that it was preferable to die while defending the nation than to drown oneself in alcohol during a meeting with mothers of those who had been recruited in November.

Putin announced a “partial” military mobilization in late September, and when its campaign in Ukraine stalled, more than 300,000 people were called up nationwide.

The precise number of Russian servicemen who lost their lives and were hurt while fighting in Ukraine is not known.

Fears of a second mobilization in the new year are growing as thousands of men have left Russia to escape being drafted.

Earlier this month, after a Eurasian summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Putin spoke at a news conference to reassure the public that there were no more plans for mobilization.

Asked by a reporter what factors could call for a new round of mobilization, Putin said: “There are no such factors today, we are not discussing them.

I told you, 300,000 were called up as part of the mobilization. Let me repeat once again 150,000 (have been deployed to Ukraine). Of those, a little more than half are in combat units.”

When asked about reports of ongoing shortages of military hardware on the front lines, Putin responded that he was actively coordinating with the Russian defense ministry and that the problem was being fixed.

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