Time to read: 10 minutes(s)

If your boss tells you that the word "Russia" should have "not just a dictionary meaning but also a deeply personal one" for you and your colleagues, that you need to "realize a sense of belonging to the fate of the Fatherland and personal responsibility for its future," prepare for the inevitable. At best, you'll get off with a one-day salary, which you must voluntarily donate to the needs of the "SVO." And if it turns out that through your honest work for the prosperity of your country, you've proven that "your heart is open to good deeds," then you might have to part with a tenth of your hard-earned money to support "our heroic soldiers."

"Voluntary" donations for the war with Ukraine began literally in the first days of March 2022. Initially, money was collected under the guise of "supporting victims in Donbas," but then Donbas was gradually forgotten, and working citizens (primarily, naturally, public sector employees) began to be pressured to contribute to the "birdie" (i.e., the drone), clothing, food, weapons—in other words, everything the Russian Ministry of Defense is supposed to supply its army with. Meanwhile, attempts to find out why teachers and nurses suddenly found themselves having to feed the richest (see 2024 budget) Russian department, are almost equated to treason.

NeMoskva compiled the most striking cases of voluntary-forced financial support for the "SVO" and tried to find out who is extracting money from whom, how they explain it, what the threats are, and where the "voluntary donations" ultimately go.

It all starts with an official letter from above. Letters can be very different. For example, the Gazprom Transgaz Yugorsk primary trade union (a sample of their work is cited at the very beginning) is apparently led by romantic patriots: at first, they tell They describe the Renaissance Foundation in such terms that it makes you want to reach for your pocket, and then they paint a wonderful picture of their employees—conscientious, generous, and ready to immediately help the Renaissance Foundation. And there's no coercion involved. God bless you.

The letter sent to subordinates by the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Udmurtia has a completely different tone. It's dry and short сообщается"Considering the difficult situation on the front lines of the special military operation, a decision has been made to provide assistance to its participants mobilized from our region." Those interested can donate money to their supervisors, with operational officers required to contribute at least a thousand rubles, while "a smaller amount is acceptable for civil servants of the prosecutor's office."

There is even less ceremony with teachers, doctors and other ordinary citizens.

"At Secondary School No. 2 in Vsevolozhsk (Leningrad Region), the principal summons all the teachers, in small groups of 5-7, and asks them to sign forms in which they "voluntarily" donate a portion of their salary to a certain fund supporting the SVO. Some teachers do indeed sign these forms voluntarily. Those who hesitate or who consider such donations inappropriate are first asked provocative questions like, 'Are you against the SVO?'; the particularly persistent are told that they can't refuse, and there will be problems (threatening dismissal or criminal prosecution for defamation)."   wrote in the Pikabu community subscriber with the nickname Klepala.

Daniil Ken, head of the Teachers' Alliance, shared correspondence between Olesya Rubleva, the principal of Rostov School No. 104, and her subordinates with NeMoskva. The principal is demanding that teachers donate money to help "wounded soldiers who defend our Motherland." However, this isn't her idea: as follows from a letter from V.N. Kolesnikov, deputy head of Rostov-on-Don's Voroshilovsky District, to school principals (also in the editorial office's possession), "supporting the army is in the blood of the peoples inhabiting our country."

Such a statement (see below) Information about "voluntary donations" for the army was distributed to teachers in the Krasnodar Krai (also from the "Teachers' Alliance" collection). As the screenshot shows, it recommends donating a portion of their salaries to the Tuapse Chamber of Commerce and Industry, headed by former Chairman of the Tuapse City Council of Deputies Yuri Getta, a United Russia member.

And school and kindergarten staff from Nevinnomyssk were forced to... listen to chanson. Or at least pay thousand-ruble tickets to a concert featuring performers of this popular genre—probably because the poster featured the letter Z and the inscription: "Part of the proceeds will be donated to the SVO Charitable Foundation."

"Everyone is outraged: kindergartens, schools. We're ready to help, true, including by reporting special operations to soldiers. But what's the point of concert tickets? We buy them, but we don't go because we don't want to," cited "Notebook. Stavropol" portrays its rebellious reader, who donated the money but dared to avoid the violent chanson. 

We asked our readers: have they encountered extortion at the "SVO" at their workplaces?

This is what they told us.

"We have meetings at our clinic from time to time. But three people (a lawyer, an economist, and a healthcare worker with a secondary specialized education) are determined not to give up."

"We (the federal budget laboratory) have had several fundraising sessions, 'as much as we can handle.' People dutifully chipped in, but I refused. There were no questions, threats, or sanctions. I don't know if anyone else refused; there are nine of us in the lab, and about 500 in the organization…"

"At work, they offered to help the SVO! (with money). The whole team sent the boss and that was it, silence!"

"I'm retired, so they can't take anything from me for themselves, and I wouldn't give it anyway. Because I believe it's not just the person who opens the valve in the gas chamber who's to blame... My husband's work was both voluntary and forced... It's a government service, they have to. That's what the boss said. He turned himself in. I'm in shock." — one reader wrote to us. According to her, her husband's organization collected "money for SEVEO" three times, but she doesn't know the details:

"He's reluctant to share this with me because he knows my feelings. Not about extortion, but about sponsoring the war. I have to ask indirectly. The amounts aren't very large; the first time it was 850 rubles. He's silent about the rest."

Another reader from the Irkutsk region wrote that her husband's work had already deducted money for the SVO twice, equal to his salary for a shift, and she provided her town and place of work. But when we asked to speak with her, she wrote that her husband had "scolded her" because he was afraid of losing his job, and stopped responding.

We understand it, and therefore we do not publish either the name or the locality.

In the Krasnozersky District of the Novosibirsk Region, not only public sector employees but also farmers were forced into "voluntary" collection: they, too, are dependent on the local administration.

"Over time, quite a few parcels were collected in the area: food, warm winter socks, flashlights, trench candles, and other necessities in a war zone. Someone even built a few potbelly stoves—it was winter. Everything was stored in the community center building, and the authorities reported on the progress of the campaign…"   пишет 29.ru.

In May, it was discovered that what could spoil had spoiled, and what couldn't was still sitting quietly in the community center, to the outrage of donors. So the administration had already reported on the collection process, but there was no time to send the parcels to their destination. However, the money collected from farmers (as one NGS source reported, the "farmer's fee" was allegedly around 120 rubles per hectare) was presumably not stored in the community center, but rather put to good use.

And the "Patriot Krasnozerya" Telegram channel, created specifically for the launch of the charity fundraiser, continues to encourage donations for "our defenders"—sometimes in a rather playful manner:

No one particularly hides the fact that forced extortion is contrary to the law.

"Hello, yesterday at work I was told I received an order to deduct 3 percent of my total salary. No one saw the order, and when I asked for it, they said, 'If you don't submit a request to deduct 3 percent from your salary, your husband will be taken to the SVO.' They said we were submitting a request to deduct 3 percent voluntarily, but then they said, 'If you don't submit a request, they'll deduct it forcibly.' Does my employer have the right to deduct a percentage of my salary to support the SVO??? COMPANY: MODERN MINING TECHNOLOGIES, City of Kemerovo."

This request was received on the website onlineinspection.rf. The Federal Service for Labor and Employment officially responded:

"It doesn't. The employer has the right to deduct from your wages only in cases (listed in the legal justification) established by law. The case you described does not apply."

That's why all employers accused of extorting money for the war immediately begin to justify themselves: they're the ones who besiege us with their donations; we have no peace from them day or night! Sometimes it even leads to prosecutorial investigations, which more often than not confirm that they're doing it all themselves, at the behest of their hearts and souls.

And the nurses of the Verkhneyarkovskaya Central Regional Hospital, whom allegedly forced to chip in for the war, in fact, they completely voluntarily wrote a statement saying they wanted to give part of their 25 salary and “provide all possible assistance” to the soldiers, the head doctor said. explained everything.

And the employees of the Irkutsk National Research Technical University, without exception, outraged by the publication of information, “not corresponding to reality and being simply a fiction” - about the fact that they allegedly forced to sign a statement with a request to withhold 3000 rubles (with the average salary at the university being around 35 rubles) for the needs of the “special operation.”

The Balashovsky District Administration of the Saratov Region, of course, also "denied" (meaning, called it fake) the publication about extortion from public sector employees. Under this "denial," published In the local media outlet "Balashover", 214 comments:

"It's not fake news at all. Everyone received this message, and meetings were held somewhere. The administration simply changed its tune after it was published. That's the whole 'fake news' thing."

"Well, well. We readily believe that everything is voluntary. Everything is voluntary here. I wonder when all these voluntary actions will cease to be voluntary and everyone will be able to decide for themselves whether to participate in the latest farce."

"So, the principal gathered the staff of a beautiful central school today, read us a document from the administration about transferring a one-day salary, and everyone voted for it, of course. You can't be against it. And then the crowd went wild. And it's not that we don't want to help. We've already helped so much... And the methods... What kind of organizing committee is this? What kind of funds are these??? Under what legal framework do they operate? Why is their decision the basis for collecting such a large sum of money?"

The question "What kind of funds are these?" is of interest to many. For example, a brand-new charitable foundation, specifically one that collects "voluntary donations" from residents of the Balashovsky District, recently published something titled "Report on the Work of the Fund for Assistance to Soldiers of the Special Military District." This something lacks not only the foundation's details and the amounts of money received and spent, but also its name.

However, kind readers immediately pointed out in the comments that "this is about the 'GRATITUDE-2015' Charitable Foundation, for which a couple of weeks ago they were voluntarily collecting donations from all public sector employees." That the foundation is run by a certain Konstantin Mikhailovich Loginov, who would do well to produce a proper report, because "a three-paragraph note is not a 'report.'"

And here is the fund Development of Tambov Region, information about which, as stated on the website, is “transparent and accessible,” it is simply that “the foundation does not disclose confidential information so as not to harm the military.”

Apparently, solely to avoid causing harm, the fund's reports are published in reverse order. That is, when you open the relevant page, you see the report for October 10th of last year, but reports for the last few days can only be accessed by scrolling back more than a year.

But you don't have to, because the "Tambov Region Development" reports are very reminiscent of the Saratov "Gratitude" report. The same three paragraphs: more than 4600 organizations and more than 20,200 individuals donated over 394 million rubles.

And here is the criminal case: an official from Tatarstan Damir Khabibullin spent money, collected "for the fighters of the SVO." That is, he was ostensibly collecting money for the non-profit organization "Financial Resources Fund of the Almetyevsk Municipal District," but for some reason he was providing his personal bank account details.

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While collecting all this information, we couldn't help but notice that although poor public sector workers are threatened with dire punishments if they refuse to contribute to the war ("we'll fire you," "we'll send your husband to the front lines," etc.), we somehow didn't come across any news about these threats being carried out.

If there have been such cases, please tell us about them – as always, we guarantee anonymity.  

But the people “sent the chief with the whole brigade” – and there was silence...