'People of Baikal' based on open data calculated that since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 6,452 residents from Pribaikalye have died: 3,246 natives of the Irkutsk region and 3,206 from Buryatia.
One-time payments for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense in these regions amount to a million rubles. Meanwhile, in July, the Irkutsk region ranked last among the regions in the Siberian Federal District for recruiting volunteers. Due to the shortfall, regional authorities will start punishing heads of administrations, a source familiar with the situation told 'People of Baikal'.
In 2025, the authorities decided 'for incentive' to punish for the shortfall and 'fire someone'. According to the source, the mayor of Ust-Ilimsk, Eduard Simonov, may lose his position 'for failing to execute the operational headquarters' decision'.
The region cannot 'fulfill the plan' for volunteers, as many residents go to war from regions with higher payments for signing a contract. 'Initially, the first to go were the 'soldiers of fortune' — those who love to kill. They were buried. Then went those who needed money. Wives said: 'Vasya, go — we'll buy something'. They were also buried. And now there are no such people who come to the military enlistment office and say: 'I want to defend the homeland'. Now even money does not motivate. [What forces them] is a difficult life situation. And a person has a choice — to go either from the Irkutsk region, or from Moscow, or Kazan. They pay more there,' the source said.
As reported by the publication's sources, plans are set based on military registration data, which has not been updated for years: many have left, but are still listed in the database. Because of this, the numbers are greatly inflated.
'Mediazona'* and 'BBC Russian Service'* have identified the names of 121,507 deceased Russian servicemen.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.