Russia’s federal and regional budgets spend 2 billion rubles ($21.5 million) per day on one-time enlistment bonuses, according to calculations based on data from Russia’s Ministry of Finance. Signing bonuses are now as high as $20,000 – more than many Russians earn in a year. Spending on military recruitment has surged five-fold since April 2024. If the current pace continues, total spending on enlistment incentives could reach 730 billion rubles ($8.9 billion) by the end of 2025 – half of Russia’s annual higher education budget and double its funding for the national “Healthcare.” Russia may only be able to sustain its current military manpower for another 12 to 16 months
Russia’s armed forces are recruiting approximately 30,000 new soldiers each month – an increase of 5,000 more than in the summer of 2023. According to European intelligence estimates, at certain times the monthly rate of mobilization may reach up to 40,000.
This allows Moscow not only to offset battlefield losses but also to form new units, which are currently stationed and undergoing training inside Russia, the Moscow Times reports, citing the Wall Street Journal.
Generous enlistment bonuses from the Ministry of Defense and intensified military propaganda have enabled Russian authorities to accelerate the recruitment of soldiers for the war.
Russia’s federal and regional budgets spend an estimated 2 billion rubles ($21.5 million) per day on one-time enlistment bonuses, according to calculations by Janis Kluge, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, based on data from Russia’s Ministry of Finance.
Kluge estimates that around 1.5 billion rubles of that daily sum is paid from regional budgets, with local governments forced to spend up to 3% of their funds to meet recruitment quotas imposed by Moscow. The remaining 0.5 billion rubles comes from federal funds.
Spending on military recruitment has surged nearly five-fold since April 2024. If the current pace continues, total spending on enlistment incentives could reach 730 billion rubles ($8.9 billion) by the end of 2025 – equivalent to half of Russia’s annual higher education budget and nearly double its funding for the national “Healthcare” project the report says.
In 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense managed to recruit about 440,000 soldiers for the war in Ukraine – an average of 1,200 new troops a day. In some regions, signing bonuses are now as high as $20,000 – more than many Russians earn in a year, Likka Korhonen, Director of the Bank of Finland’s Institute for Emerging Economies says.
Despite the scale of recruitment, Russia may only be able to sustain its current military manpower for another 12 to 16 months, according to George Barros, lead Russian analyst at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) as cited by the New York Post on Saturday, April 12.
Earlier this week Kyiv Post reported that Moscow is planning to forcibly conscript homeless individuals in Ukraine’s occupied territories to fight in the Russian armed forces, citing Ukraine’s National Resistance Center (NRC).
“Due to a personnel shortage, the occupiers intend to conscript homeless people into the ranks of the Russian occupation forces. Yes, those without a home, a passport, or citizenship. The perfect soldier for the Kremlin asks no questions about where to go and disappears without a fuss,” the NRC statement says.
Ukrinform pointed out that the center believes Russia is considering passing a law that would allow individuals who “legally do not exist” to serve in the armed forces, saying “this isn’t an episode of ‘Black Mirror’ – this is reality.”
Earlier this month, Putin signed a decree authorizing a new push to increase the country’s semi-annual conscription program, which runs until July 15, to 160,000 fighting-age men – which the Kremlin defines as those between 18 and 30 years old.
That number is up 10,000 from 2024’s spring recruitment campaign, and up more than 15,000 from three years ago, according to Russian state media outlet TASS.
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