The government of the Saratov region has shortened the duration of payments for attracting contract soldiers — instead of December 31, they end today, October 28, according to the decree from October 24, which was noted by «7×7»*.
On the same day, the regional government almost fivefold reduced payments to the contract soldiers themselves from the regional budget — from 2.2 million to 450 thousand rubles, which is the minimum amount recommended to the regions.
Payments for recruitment in the Saratov region were introduced in December 2024, initially paying 10 thousand rubles for this, gradually increasing, reaching 150 thousand rubles in February.
As calculated by «Dozhd»**, in October, seven regions reduced payments to the military for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense several times: Saratov, Samara, and Ulyanovsk regions, as well as Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, and St. Petersburg.
In the Samara region, the payment was reduced ninefold, from 3.6 million rubles to 400 thousand rubles. Below the amount recommended by Putin's decree of 450 rubles, payments were also set in Mari El and Chuvashia.
According to calculations by «Important Stories»**, by October 2025, payments for recruiters were in every third region. Of these, 11 regions indicated expenses for recruiter incentives in reports on the execution of regional budgets. The Saratov region was the leader in the total amount for the entire duration of the payment — about 400 million rubles were spent from the region's reserve fund, the same amount was spent on construction within the framework of the emergency housing resettlement program.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».
** Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent» and «undesirable» organization.