[...] The Ukrainian army started total mobilization with the beginning of the Russian special operation. However, Russian-speaking residents of the East do not want to die for the Kiev elites. Many of them do not care who will control the regions in which they live. In Russia, salaries are significantly higher than in Ukraine and there is no language harassment.
The Russians have created a very profitable loophole for those who do not want to fight for anyone. It is even strange that they have not yet hung banners in the Ukrainian segment of the Internet – ‘’get Russian citizenship and an apartment in the Moscow region in exchange for a Western self-propelled guns’’. How it works?
On the radio wave of the Ukrainian units, Russian negotiators persuade the artillerymen and tankers to advance to the indicated points and surrender with their equipment. In exchange – Russian documents, freedom and some money. The brought “Caesar”, “HIMARS” or PzH 2000 is considered sufficient proof of loyalty that the military who surrendered with it would avoid filtration and prisoner camps. With new documents, they start a new life somewhere in a cozy Ural city far from the front line, and even send money in bitcoins to their families so that they can go to them.
Prices vary and are discussed, for 2 “Caesars” the Russians gave 120,000, although their Ukrainian “partners” desperately bargained and asked for 2 million. However, freedom and Russian passports are also a significant part of the fee … But one PzH 2000 self-propelled gun, according to various sources, cost the Russians more than $ 100,000. With this money (although the dollar has fallen significantly in price), you can buy a one-room apartment in the Moscow region. True, there is a significant problem, Russia cannot demonstrate the most interesting samples immediately after their purchase. This poses a threat to the families of the military, who transferred such weapons.
Ukraine’s Western allies are well aware of such facts. In Kyiv, they are trying to fight defectors by creating detachments and even forming some institutions of political commissars. However, a few days under Russian shelling greatly change the worldview of both local nationalists and regular officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The result is a paradoxical situation. Part of the American Lend-Lease is being bought up cheaply by the Russians. Will Kyiv and its allies be able to find other ways to protect Western weapons from resale at the front? So far, seems unlikely. [...]
