- The Russian Ministry of Defence plans to replenish its troops by recruiting 400,000 contract soldiers in 2023.
- The Russian military is in particular looking for new recruits in specialized vocations, like artillery or armour operators.
- Russia declared a “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists in September to replenish forces being depleted by its invasion of Ukraine.
- Russian contract soldiers are typically volunteers who sign up for a three-year paid stint in the army. They numbered around 400,000 before Moscow invaded Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defence plans to replenish its troops by recruiting 400,000 contract soldiers in 2023, according to multiple local media reports. The recruitment drive is expected to launch on April 1, and regional governments have already been informed of the hiring quotas they need to fulfil, reported Radio Free Europe.
The Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, were each told to obtain 10,000 signatures by the end of 2023, and in Voronezh, the Russian regions closest to the border with Ukraine, military officials were seen distributing subpoenas to residents, telling them to update their particulars with enlistment and military registration offices, said BBC Russia.
The authorities said the summons were issued just to collect information, and not to lay the groundwork for a second mobilization, BBC Russia reported. The Russian news reported that the Russian military is in particular looking for new recruits in specialized vocations, like artillery or armour operators.
The incoming batches of contract soldiers will be allowed to choose whether they will be deployed to Ukraine, Layout wrote, citing an anonymous source at a local authority in Voronezh. Russia declared a “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists in September to replenish forces being depleted by its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in December that the defence ministry is seeking to bolster its military from 1 million personnel to 1.5 million. The augmented military is expected to field some 695,000 contract soldiers, with at least 521,000 in service by the end of 2023.
Russian contract soldiers are typically volunteers who sign up for a three-year paid stint in the army, per the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank. They numbered around 400,000 before Moscow invaded Ukraine. Since the war began in February 2022, recruiters have been offering hefty bonuses and increased salaries to contract soldiers, while the Kremlin rushes to bolster resources for its hard-hit troops.
