Russia’s army is struggling to find new recruits, despite lucrative signing-on bonuses, a new analysis has found.
Putin’s forces have sustained horrific numbers of casualties, since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion almost three years ago in February 2022.
Though figures vary depending on the source, it is widely believed that Russian casualties run into the hundreds of thousands.
Ukraine‘s General Staff puts the figure of Russians killed or injured at currently 747,370.
In October US officials said there were as many as 615,000. Of these 115,000 are believed to have been killed, and the 500,000 wounded.
The Kremlin is desperate to avoid a national mobilisation, fearful such a move could foment serious social unrest.
As a result, they have tried to entice Russians to join the army by offering them lucrative signing-on bonuses and generous wages.
At the end of July, Vladimir Putin signed a decree doubling upfront payments for volunteers, in an attempt to increase recruitment numbers.
Recruits now receive a signing on fee of 400,000 roubles (£2,985) on top of their monthly wage of 204,000 roubles (£1,522).
This means that the minimum wage a soldier will earn in his first year of service comes to 3.25 million roubles (£24,243), almost three times more than the average annual wage of 1.24 million roubles (£9,250).
Yet despite this financial incentive, the Kremlin finds itself unable to find fresh recruits fast enough to replace its ever growing number of casualties.
Researchers at the independent Russian media outlet Meduza have calculated that Putin’s army is losing more soldiers per day than it can recruit.
They found that Russian casualties amounted to between 600-750 individuals per day, whereas only 500-600 new contracts are being signed per day.
The bad news for Ukraine is that although the figures suggest that the Kremlin is unable to build up significant military reserves, its army is not on the brink of collapse.
Recent months have seen a surge in Russian casualties, as Putin’s forces step up their attacks in eastern Ukraine, as they look to capture Pokrovsk.
September was one of the bloodiest on record for Putin’s army, with his forces sustaining an average daily loss rate of 1,271, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.