Russian soldiers complain that they are forced to refuse participation in Putin's personnel program 'Time of Heroes' under the threat of being sent to an assault. The Kremlin presents this initiative as a 'social lift' for participants in the war against Ukraine and a forge for a 'new elite of Russia'.
According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, commanders are forcing their subordinates to give up participation in the program under the threat of being transferred to assault units, where 'their fate will be unknown'. The system does not wish to see real combat participants in power. Among more than a thousand 'war heroes' who participated in the personnel program, experts point to the absence of real war participants; most of the time, cameras show former deputies or senators who 'served' in specially created battalions.
The Center for Countering Disinformation believes that the 'Time of Heroes' program is used solely as a propaganda tool to recruit as much 'cannon fodder' as possible into military ranks, rather than to form a 'new elite'.
The personnel program 'Time of Heroes' is used by the Russian Kremlin as a tool of propaganda and manipulation aimed at attracting military personnel, carelessly treating real participants of the war.