Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev assured on Sunday that Moscow had recruited around 280,000 soldiers since the beginning of the year, 50,000 more than the previous figures from the beginning of August, in the middle of the Ukraine conflict.
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“According to the Russian Defense Ministry, around 280,000 people have been accepted into the ranks of the armed forces under contract since January 1,” Medvedev said, according to the state news agency TASS.
The former head of state, who is currently deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council, made the comments during a visit to the Far Eastern island of Sakhalin.
In early August, he announced that the army had recruited more than 230,000 people since January 1st. AFP cannot independently confirm these figures.
Since the spring, the Russian army has been conducting an extensive recruitment campaign for volunteers, with a lot of advertising on the streets and on the Internet, promising future soldiers particularly attractive salaries as well as social and banking benefits.
In September 2022, faced with losses at the front, the Russian authorities had to resort to partial mobilization, which allowed the recruitment of at least 300,000 men but resulted in the flight of hundreds of thousands of Russians abroad.