The Russian military’s enticing recruitment offers appear to be paying off as the number of newly-enlisted troops increased sixfold over the past year.
Citing data from the federal budget, local media outlet Important Stories claimed that 166,000 people had signed up for the Russian armed forces in the first half of 2024.
This is significantly higher than the 26,700 it recruited during the same period in 2023.
The number is expected to increase further to 190,000 by July 2024, according to Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev.
The alleged increase in Russian military strength comes amid reports that it is now struggling with a depleted force, as Moscow has reportedly lost more than 350,000 troops since launching its invasion in February 2022.
Enticing Offers
The massive rise in Russian military recruitment is largely credited to the staggering bonuses offered by the government for those willing to fight in Ukraine.
In July, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin issued a new decree that would give a 2 million rubles ($22,000) sign-on bonus to city residents who voluntarily join the military for at least one year.
Potential recruits are also promised to receive a monthly income of up to 700,000 rubles ($8,961), more than 10 times the average wage of 63,060 rubles ($807).
In case of death or injury, soldiers and their families can receive up to 3 million Russian rubles ($34,000) in compensation.
In total, Moscow reportedly spent 3 trillion rubles ($32.9 billion) so far in payments to soldiers participating in the war starting June 2023.
