Appendices

Appendix 1. Questionnaire

1. Are you considering potentially joining the special military operation (SMO) by signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense? (Answers: yes, no, active-duty personnel / former personnel)
   1. For those who answered “Active-duty personnel/former personnel,” “Are you planning to extend the contract?”
2. What factors could convince you to join the SMO?
   1. The opinion of family members (yes / no)
   2. The opinion of current SMO personnel (yes / no)
   3. Payments and benefits (yes / no)
   4. For those who answered “no” three times, “Do you think your friends/colleagues/ family members could join the SMO?”
3. Can your decision to join the SMO be influenced by…
   1. An increase in monthly basic pay upon signing the contract (yes / no) To what amount should this payment be raised for you to sign the contract within the next three months?
   2. An increase in the lump-sum payment upon signing the contract (yes / no) To what amount should this payment be raised for you to sign the contract within the next three months?
   3. An increase in injury compensation (yes / no) To what amount should this payment be raised for you to sign the contract within the next three months?
   4. An increase in death gratuity payments (yes / no) To what amount should this payment be raised for you to sign the contract within the next three months?
   5. An increase in other benefits offered to the SMO personnel (yes / no) Which ones?
4. Socio-demographic questions
   1. What is your monthly income? (less than 20,000 — 20,000–50,000 — 50,000– 100,000 — more than 100,000)
   2. Marital status (in a civil relationship — married — divorced — single)
   3. Education (high school — incomplete college degree — college degree — two or more college degrees, higher)
   4. Children (no children — one child — two children — more than two children)
   5. Age (specify)

Appendix 2. Tests for statistical significance of the association between the income and the willingness to join the SMO

Commentary:

For respondents with an income below 20,000 rubles: according to a normal distribution, 32 respondents would be expected to answer “Yes, I am an active-duty SMO combatant,” but only 11 actually did. This indicates that lower-income individuals are less likely to be the SMO personnel, which makes sense. Remarkably, however, the sample includes any SMO combatants with an income below 20,000 rubles.

For respondents with an income between 20,000 and 50,000 rubles: 70 respondents would be expected to answer “Yes, I am an active-duty SMO combatant,” but only 52 actually did. The same logic applies here: the combatants are more likely to be in higher income brackets.

For respondents with an income from 50,000 to 100,000: 113 respondents would be expected to answer “Yes, I am an active-duty SMO combatant,” but only 88 did. This is consistent with the trend, as SMO personnel are more likely to earn over 100,000 rubles.

For respondents with an income over 100,000 rubles: 109 respondents would be expected to answer “Yes, I am an active-duty SMO combatant,” but the actual count was higher, at 174 respondents. This indicates a concentration of combatants in the high-income group.

Commentary:

For the respondents with an income of less than 20,000 rubles: 106 respondents should have answered, “Yes, I am not ready to join under any circumstances,” with a normal distribution, but only 130 did. That is, among the least affluent, the reluctance to join prevails.

For the respondents with an income between 20,000 and 50,000 rubles, the figures comply with the normal distribution.

For the respondents with an income between 50,000 and 100,000 rubles: 376 should have answered that they are not ready to join in the expected distribution, but the number of such answers was higher, at 389. Among them, there is also a preference to avoid joining.

For the respondents with an income of more than 100,000 rubles: 364 should have answered, “No, I am not ready to join.” But only 329 answered this way, that is, less than expected with a normal distribution; 310 should have answered “yes,” that is, that they are ready to join, but the number of such answers was higher, at 346.

When comparing the extreme income categories, a direct relationship is observed: more often than expected, respondents with the lowest income state their unwillingness to join, and those who are part of the high-income demographic, on the contrary, more often demonstrate the willingness to join. The middle-income categories do not show a clear tendency in one direction or another.

Commentary:

For the respondents with an income below 20,000 rubles: under a normal distribution, 106 respondents would be expected to answer, “No, I am not willing to join under any circumstances,” but in reality, only 130 did. This suggests that a lack of willingness to participate is more common among the lowest-income demographic.

For the respondents with an income between 20,000 and 50,000 rubles: the responses align with normal distribution expectations, showing no significant deviations.

For respondents with an income between 50,000 and 100,000 rubles: while 376 respondents were expected to say they are unwilling to join, 389 actually did, indicating a similar trend of unwillingness among this income group.

For respondents with an income above 100,000 rubles: 364 respondents were expected to answer “No, I am not willing to join,” but only 329 did, which is fewer than expected. Conversely, 310 respondents were expected to answer, “Yes, I am willing to join,” and yet, 346 actually responded in the affirmative.

The results are based on nonempty rows and columns in each innermost subtable.

More than 20% of cells in this subtable have expected cell counts less than five. Chi-square results may be invalid.

Appendix 3. Questionnaires with outliers