Stands advertising "alternative service" appeared at the Tushinskaya and Skhodnenskaya stations on the purple line of the Moscow metro, the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti reported. Similar stands near other stations were found by the outlet Vot Tak. The leaflets name the organization "Zashchitnik.rf" and carry the caption "Contract for the special military operation." One woman working at a stand said the program started about a month ago.
The ads promise candidates aged 18 to 45 a one-time payment of 2.3 million rubles, a five-days-on-two-days-off schedule, benefits, and exemption from conscription. On the hotline, Ostorozhno, Novosti was told the payment is 2 million rubles with a monthly salary from 130,000 rubles. Among the specialists sought are signalers, communications engineers, IT specialists, and drivers.
On the hotline of the Zashchitnik.rf website, callers are told that those interested can sign a regular contract with the "African Corps" — a unit of the Russian Defense Ministry — with service in Naro-Fominsk. Drivers are offered to "transport supplies," without specifying where. Vot Tak was also told that IT specialists would handle programming and drone operation.
A Vot Tak correspondent called the number from the ad booklet, posing as an interested candidate. Zashchitnik.rf said that to enter "alternative service" one must sign a standard combined-arms contract. Asked whether they could then be sent to the front, a representative said: "No, that cannot happen."
The human rights project Idite Lesom has noted that Russians have previously been offered contracts under the guise of alternative service. "If you are told 'alternative service under contract,' 'service for a year,' 'exercises near Moscow,' 'drones,' 'air defense,' 'computer work,' 'not the front,' 'schedule 3/3' — and you are given a contract to sign, this is not alternative civilian service. Alternative civilian service is not arranged through a contract with the Defense Ministry, a volunteer formation, BARS, or another military structure," the project wrote.
Alternative civilian service (AGS) is work "in the interests of society and the state" performed instead of military conscription. It is guaranteed by the Russian Constitution to those whose beliefs or faith are incompatible with military service. AGS does not involve signing a contract with the Defense Ministry.
Lawyers and human rights activists interviewed by journalists note that no separate contract for "alternative service" exists. After signing a regular military contract, the command determines the place of service, and an intermediary organization cannot guarantee assignment to a specific unit.