Volunteers in tatarstan Sounding the Alarm: the Drone-Manufacturing Region Is Tired of Financing the War

tatarstan is caught in a vicious trap: on the one hand, the region remains a vital part of the russian military economy, producing attack drones which russia uses in the war against Ukraine; on the other hand, russian volunteers themselves – who have been supplying the occupying army for years – admit that the rear is collapsing completely. This is evidenced by a discussion involving tatarstan volunteers who have been transporting aid to the occupying army for several years. Their accounts are, in fact, a description of how the war is gradually eating away at the resources of the russian rear.

While at the start of the invasion, fundraising campaigns were quickly closed, volunteers now fulfill only a small fraction of requests from the front lines, and the cost of even the most basic requests starts at one million rubles.

The economic situation in the aggressor country is hitting ordinary citizens and businesses hard in the pocket. The tax burden and widespread impoverishment of the population have led sponsors and business owners to increasingly refuse to provide assistance. Volunteers from tatarstan, who travel over 2,000 kilometers to the front lines, are now even begging for funds to cover logistics and fuel. At this, russian soldiers themselves complain that they are forced to go into debt due to the high cost of fuel and generators, which the command is unable to provide.

In addition to the financial crisis, the occupiers’ rear is paralyzed by a logistical collapse. Due to the threat posed by Ukrainian drones, cargo deliveries have turned into a deadly game of russian roulette: most trucks no longer risk traveling on roads in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, while unloading points are being moved farther from the front lines because it is impossible to safely pass through checkpoints. The tatarstan volunteers’ stated desire to assemble/solder drones on their own in the rear is being thwarted by a critical shortage of funds and a lack of qualified personnel willing to work for free.

This crisis clearly demonstrates a simple and inevitable truth: the war against Ukraine is completely destroying russia’s economy from within, and the myth of “inexhaustible resources” is crumbling before our eyes.