Russia may authorise six-day week for workers without additional pay to meet war needs – UK intel

28.05.2023 13:32

Ukrinform

In recent weeks, the tone of public debate in Russia has moved beyond merely punishing those who criticize the so-called ‘Special Military Operation’ [Russia’s war against Ukraine – Ed.] towards mandating citizens to actively make sacrifices in support of the war effort.

The relevant statement was made by the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom on Twitter, referring to the latest Defence Intelligence update, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Russian state-backed media and business groups have petitioned the Economic Ministry to authorise a six-day week for workers in the face of the economic demands of the war, apparently without additional pay.

Moreover, on May 21, 2023, leading Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan mooted that citizens should work for two extra hours in munitions factories each day, after their regular jobs.

“The evolving tone of the conversations clearly echoes a Soviet-type sense of societal compulsion. It also highlights how the leadership highly likely identifies economic performance as a decisive factor in winning the war,” the UK intelligence concluded.

A reminder that the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom stated earlier that Russia’s Wagner Group forces had likely started to withdraw from some of their positions around the Donetsk region’s Bakhmut.