Huge amount Russian volunteers are being paid to sign up and fight for country

Amid the war in Ukraine and the constant threat of WW3, Russia is reportedly offering lucrative financial incentives to volunteers.

President Vladimir Putin is apparently not in favour of conscription, which is the mandatory enrolment of individuals, quite often men, for military service.

On 1 April, however, Russia started a new conscription plan, with the hopes of enlisting 160,000 military-age men between 18 and 30, according to Al Jazeera.

It happens to be the largest call-up since 2011 as Putin hopes to boost the forces to a 2.5 million person army.

But to convince people to sign up to, arguably, the most life-threatening job in the world takes some doing.

How much Russian volunteers get paid to sign up to the army

Russia aims to increase the size of its military to 2.5 million (Getty Stock Images)

As reported by The Times, a volunteer can earn up to 1.5 million roubles in the form of a sign-on bonus.

That's the equivalent of £14,000, and is around the same amount as the average salary in Russia.

They're then paid two and a half times the national average wage.

Coffin money

Vladimir Putin hopes to boost the forces to a 2.5 million person army (Getty Stock Images)

If a solider dies in combat, their family will financially benefit in the a number of ways.

Along with a pension option, loved ones will reportedly receive payments of up to 15 million roubles (£140,000), and are given prioritisation when it comes to their children applying to universities.

The problem with Russia 'avoiding' conscription

Russians are given financial incentives to enlist as a volunteer in the army (Getty Stock Images)

Despite sounding like a half-decent deal, Russian anti-war activist Ivan Chuvilyaev insists that people are still being forced to sign military contracts.

"An enlisted soldier finds himself in a very difficult situation. In fact, he has no options not to be on a contract," he told Euronews.

The spokesman of Get Lost, a company that supports Russians trying to avoid the army, said soldiers are persuaded with arguments like 'everyone has signed, but you haven't yet, and everyone has received money, but you haven't'.

"If you sign, we will send you to serve in a safe region somewhere in the Urals or Siberia or close to home [and] if you don't sign, you will go to a zone where conscripts can be sent by law," is the sort of fake promise you're expected to hear, Chuvilyaev says.

"Finally, the main thing is that the practice of falsifying documents is very widely used. The contract is signed for the conscript (by recruiters who) put an 'x' in the signature box. The soldier finds out about it when he receives a bank card and documents about allowance," he added.