Putin's party has its own PMC and intensifies recruitment - Defense Intelligence of Ukraine
Russia's dictator, Vladimir Putin (Photo: Getty Images)
The party of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has its own private military company called "Espanola." The Putin regime has intensified recruiting efforts, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense on Telegram.
Putin's party, "United Russia," has acquired its private army. The so-called PMC "Espanola" was previously part of the "Vostok" battalion as a voluntary unit of Russian ultras.
Since 2023, the Putin regime has declared "Espanola," a private military company. "United Russia" has actively started recruiting for the PMC using funds.
According to intelligence data, they recruit ultras, Russian radicals, sympathizers of Nazi ideology, as well as ordinary civilians from impoverished "subjects" of the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. As noted by the Main Intelligence Directorate, the latter are used in "cannon fodder" roles.
In recruiting centers for "Espanola" operating in the occupied Ukrainian territories, volunteers are promised 220,000 rubles per month for participating in combat actions against Ukraine. The contract is for a minimum of six months.
Interested individuals are also lured with insurance payments: minor injuries - 1 million rubles, moderate injuries - 2 million rubles, severe injuries - 3 million rubles, and death - 5 million rubles.
"However, financial motivation is only a cover. For most recruits, the first battle is a one-way ticket. The Russians do not evacuate the killed and severely wounded from the battlefield; they are declared 'missing without a trace' to avoid paying rubles to the relatives of those Moscow sent to death," notes the Main Intelligence Directorate.
Russia's losses in the war
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, over 361,000 occupiers have been eliminated. In the last day alone, Ukrainian fighters destroyed about 680 Russians.
British intelligence emphasizes that Russian losses increased in 2023. Moscow will likely need up to 10 years to restore a professional army.
