Krasnodar-based Guardsmen snub order to go for another deployment in Ukraine over low pay

Rosgvardia (Russian Guard) servicemen with the force’s Krasnodar unit, who took part in the war against Ukraine in February-April and were about to be sent for their second deployment, filed reports refusing to go to war.

That’s according to Kavkaz.Realii, citing a source familiar with the matter, Ukrinform reports.

The information was also confirmed by one of the servicemen involved.

The source said the Guardsmen are extremely dissatisfied with the payments received for their two-month deployment as they turned out to be much lower than what the propaganda media promised. This was one of the reasons for them to ignore orders.

"Only a few days ago there we received our pay for the second month of our stay there. For the first month, we were paid RUB 100,000, and now it’s 50,000. The Command explained that was due to the sliding dollar exchange rate as the pay is calculated as $50 per day while the money is ultimately transferred in roubles in line with the official rate,” the interlocutor told the outlet.

On March 10, the official dollar exchange rate in Russia stood at RUB 120, while as of May 26, it was RUB 56.

The source added that five servicemen in his unit had filed for retirement due to age. He is also aware of at least five other servicemen who have refused to be deployed to Ukraine for other reasons.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, from February 24 to May 29, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liquidated about 30,150 Russian servicemen.