Russian soldiers say they dream of conquering Ukrainian cities and moving their families there in haunting recruitment ad
- Russian troops wistfully discuss plans to "recapture Kyiv" in a haunting new recruitment ad.
- The commercial shows soldiers planning to move their families to conquered Ukrainian cities.
In a chilling Russian military recruitment ad, soldiers wistfully discuss their plans to "recapture Kyiv" and move their families into conquered Ukrainian cities.
"Do you know where Pechersk Hills are, in Kyiv?" one soldier asks another as the pair wind through trenches, loading their weapons and dodging incoming fire in the latest ad campaign meant to entice recruits to join the Russian Armed Forces.
Recruitment ads from the Russian military are prominently displayed on billboards, interspersed throughout television broadcasts, and even handed out in pamphlets to passersby in high foot-traffic areas, according to The Moscow Times, making their haunting calls to action difficult for typical Russians to avoid, even if they want to.
"It's downtown, my aunt lives there. It's a cool area," a second Russian Army member replies as gunfire pops and explosions ring out in the background. "Why?"
The first solider aims his weapon, saying: "I have a dream. I want to buy an apartment there. When the war is over and we recapture Kyiv, I will move my family there."
As the music crescendos, a title screen with bold letters appears, reading in Russian: "choose the city of your dreams."
Ostap Yarysh, the Pentagon correspondent at Voice of America News, added subtitles to the Russian video and shared the clip in a post on X, saying: "Please tell me more that Russia started this war because it felt threatened by NATO."
Russia, which has struggled to recruit soldiers, has more than doubled the amount it is offering to pay its troops since the invasion of Ukraine began, Insider previously reported. In a separate ad that aired earlier this year, military-age prospective recruits were told to be "a real man" and sign up to serve as contract soldiers in the war — where up to an estimated 120,000 troops have been killed.