3/ "No one is fighting for the Motherland now," she says. "No matter who you ask, everyone goes there to improve the well-being of their family." Sergei is earning 200,000 rubles ($2,210) a month, three times his former civilian salary.
However, much of the initial recruitment bonus was used up buying personal equipment at inflated prices. The soldiers also have to deal with endemic theft of their personal effects by their fellow soldiers, as Tatyana explains.