Bair (left) and Mingiyan play PUBG on their phones, while Mingiyan's sister Oyuna gets ready for a walk outside. Due to a COVID outbreak, the only cadet corps in Kalmykia where Mingiyan studies temporarily sent its cadets away to their homes to continue education online. A career in the military is seen not only as a culturally appropriate thing to do, but as a stable source of income as well. Although in the past years Kalmykia has seen a decline in the number of people who live on less than the minimum subsistence income — by latest assessments, 22.7% fall into that category — it is still one of the poorest regions in Russia. Due to low wages, people from Kalmykia travel to other parts of Russia to find work, a popular destination being the Far North. Labour migrants report that they'd like to return back to home once they saved up enough to buy property in Kalmykia or dealt with their debts. In 2022, Kalmykia leads the rating of Russian regions with the most indebted populace.