Redeem now - Leaflets in Russia's Siberia are calling on women to join the army, per independent media.
- Women would potentially serve in occupied Ukraine "in the same ranks as men," The Moscow Times reported.
- 39,000 women currently serve in Russia's army, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said.
Some areas of Russia are being leafleted with an appeal for women to join the army and serve as doctors, paramedics, nurses, and cooks, potentially in occupied Ukraine, according to independent media.
"Sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry in the same ranks as men," one leaflet distributed in Omsk, western Siberia, read, according to The Moscow Times' translation.
On calling the hotline listed, independent news outlet 7x7 reported it was told that women under 50 were invited to sign one-year contracts, for which they would get no vacation, and for which nurses and cooks needed no special qualifications.
While the hotline didn't specify the exact location recruits would be sent, the outlet was told they would serve in the Russian regions, which would include occupied parts of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are now claimed by Russia, a claim not recognized by the vast majority of other countries.
The Omsk Civil Association, a group that says it opposes the invasion of Ukraine, also shared the leaflet with a warning to locals not to sign up.
They noted that there were casualties even among those not on the front line, and linked to a tally of 415 Omsk residents it said had died in Ukraine.
The scale of the army recruitment push for female signups is unclear.
In March, Ukraine's defense ministry suggested that Russia was transporting female convicts to the occupied territories in Ukraine in order to serve in the army — an effort that independent observers in Russia said had been going on for some months.
That same month, Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said that 39,000 women were currently serving in Russia's armed forces, including 5,000 officers. Of those, 1,100 were serving in Ukraine, he said.
Russia has around 1 million active soldiers.
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