In April, the VK group “Contract for the Special Military Operation • Rear Selection • Kaliningrad” published an advertisement for contract military service featuring an image of Alexei Navalny. Publicist Oleg Kashin drew attention to the post. It was later deleted, and the recruiters said its publication had been a mistake.
According to the post, it was published on April 4. It claimed that a person could earn more than 7 million rubles in a year of participation in the war and use that money to buy an apartment in Kaliningrad.
Journalists from Agentstvo contacted the WhatsApp number listed in the ad. They were told:
“this of course should not have happened, but apparently something went off plan with the marketer.”
The advertising post was removed soon afterward.
What is known about the recruiters
According to Agentstvo, the ad listed the website Rodina Geroev, an organization that recruits Russians for the war in several regions. The outlet Vot Tak reported that the group’s main office is in Rostov-on-Don at the same address as the Rostov regional government and the regional department for Cossack affairs and cadet educational institutions.
Context of prosecutions
Russian courts have previously punished citizens for posting photographs of Navalny online. Those targeted included members of the Yabloko party as well as Z-bloggers. The authorities treat such posts as displaying “extremist” symbols, although the Justice Ministry and the Interior Ministry, the report says, deny this.