Ukraine Says Russia Uses Job Ads for Nonexistent Nuclear Plant to Recruit Fighters

Russia is luring people into signing contracts to fight in Ukraine by advertising security jobs at a nonexistent “Luhansk nuclear power plant,” Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation said on January 22, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation on January 22. 

The center said the scheme uses the “NPP” label to create the impression of civilian employment, while recruits are ultimately sent to the front line.

The Russian outlet Verstka reported that multiple listings for guards at the supposed facility appeared on Avito  over the past week, with the ads describing standard contract terms for service in Ukraine, including pay starting at about $2,700 and a one-time payment of roughly $19,300 to $51,400.

Verstka said its correspondent, posing as a job seeker, called one of the phone numbers listed in the advertisements and told the operator they could not find any information about the “Luhansk nuclear power plant.”

“Why were you looking?” the recruiter replied, according to Verstka. The recruiter added that recruits would “serve where the motherland says.”

Ukraine’s state nuclear operator Energoatom says it operates four nuclear power plants—Zaporizhzhia, Rivne, South Ukraine, and Khmelnytskyi—underscoring that there is no nuclear plant in the Luhansk region. 

Eventually, it was reported that analysis of Russian social media showed a sharp increase in recruitment advertisements targeting foreigners with misleading job-like descriptions, often promising noncombat roles before deploying recruits to frontline units.

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