Ads Looking for Trench Diggers Surface as Ukraine's Winter Offensive Looms

Ads for Russian trench diggers have popped up on job listings websites as Ukraine looks to use the upcoming winter months to its advantage in the ongoing conflict.

In a Telegram post, Russian media channel Mozhem Obyasnit (We Can Explain) shared several job listing websites that are looking for workers to dig trenches and other defense structures.

"On the websites Avito, Vkontakte and HeadHunter, there were advertisements for hiring laborers to build fortifications and dig trenches in the Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Belgorod regions," Mozhem Obyasnit said in the Telegram post. "The StroyKom company is recruiting people, which, as stated on its website, built the Crimean bridge, Olympic facilities, and the Gazprom Lakhta Center. On sites with reviews about employers, you can find a lot of negative statements from workers: they live in army tents, living conditions are bad, wages are delayed and not paid in full."

The job listings come shortly after Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov spoke about how the winter months will play a role in the nation's ongoing counterattacks against Russian forces.

"When the soil becomes more solid, I am convinced that we will continue our counterattacks, the campaign to liberate our territories," Reznikov said, according to The Moscow Times.

In a separate tweet last week, Reznikov wrote, "Neither snow, nor frost, nor mud will stop the #UAarmy from liberating our land. Grateful for our partners' consistent support of Ukraine in the fight against this terrorist state."

One of the job listings mentioned in the Telegram post has a job description that states, "Ancillary workers are required to strengthen trenches, trenches, structures."

Similarly, another listing states that workers will be preparing an "anti-tank trench" as well as pouring concrete and strengthening structures.

In addition to the comments made by Reznikov, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that "Ukraine now has the momentum" and that Russia is "trying to freeze the conflict" in the coming months.

Earlier this week, Matthew Schmidt, the director of international affairs at the University of New Haven, told Newsweek that he sees the winter playing a role in "morale" for both the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces.

"And it's going to be much worse on the Russian side because we've seen continual reports about a lack of equipment, lack of coats, lack of gloves, a lack of modern weaponry that can withstand the court," Schmidt said.

Similarly, the British Ministry of Defense said this week in an intelligence update that "Russian ground forces are unlikely to make operationally significant advances within the next several months."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.