Russia’s military intelligence agency has developed new pipelines for deploying mercenaries to Ukraine, according to an investigation by the Sistema project. Officials reportedly created the “Dobrocor” system by reorganizing the existing private military company Redut. Dobrocor began recruiting this spring, and Sistema journalists linked its operations to Russia’s Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and 27 mercenary units, including the Wolves, the Veterans, the Espanyola soccer hooligans, and St. George. Journalists identified Dobrocor’s main overseer as the GRU’s deputy chief, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev.
With the establishment of Dobrocor, prospective mercenaries can choose between two frameworks: sign a traditional contract with Redut or enlist in the Volunteer Corps.
Mercenaries who sign with Redut are allowed to terminate their contracts at any moment, but they fight in a semi-legal status without entitlement to standard military benefits. Men who enlist with the Volunteer Corps, meanwhile, enjoy a more legitimate military status with access to benefits and regional subsidies. However, according to Sistema’s investigation, Volunteer Corps fighters cannot terminate their contracts early, and regional authorities typically pay bonuses only to those who sign contracts for at least one year. In some regions, moreover, there are no payments for “volunteers” at all, leading some mercenaries to choose the older, less restrictive system.
In both cases, unlike Russia’s regular contract soldiers, mercenaries recruited under these systems can return home after completing or terminating their contracts. They are not required to fight until the Kremlin declares an end to the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Sistema journalists estimate that more than 1,500 combatants have been deployed to Ukraine through the Dobrocor system. Volunteer Corps mercenaries are active at nearly every front, from Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk to Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. These men also saw combat in battles to retake Russia’s Kursk region, including the special operation that sent soldiers through an underground gas pipeline near Sudzha.
