Russia's efforts to increase military recruitment through high financial incentives are not yielding results, indicating that Russia's primary method for recruiting volunteers for its war may be experiencing diminishing returns. This is stated in a material by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), reported by UNN.
Details
Analysts, in particular, refer to an article by the independent Russian-language publication Idel.Realii, which reported that employees of Russian military recruitment centers stated that the number of people signing contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense is not increasing even in regions offering the highest financial incentives.
According to sources, everyone who wanted to "make money from the war" has already registered
It is also indicated that employees of military recruitment services in two unspecified Siberian regions reported that recently only recruits of "extremely old age" and with chronic diseases are signing up. At the same time, sources in one of the cities in the north of the Irkutsk region of the Russian Federation stated that recruitment problems have existed for several months, and that recruits mostly ask about financial payments and benefits for military personnel, such as priority education for their children, deferrals of loan payments and debt write-offs, which demonstrates that those who sign up are motivated only financially.
A source from the Irkutsk region stated that the Russian Ministry of Defense is trying to recruit people, ... claiming that the war will be settled soon, so recruits should "get millions before peace comes." The source also noted that the Russian Ministry of Defense deceives people by advertising how much recruits can earn in one year, taking into account the monthly salaries of military personnel operating in the combat zone, although Russian authorities often send recruits not to the rear, but to assault missions on the front, where life expectancy is often less than one year.
ISW concludes that the fact that Russia cannot compensate for its high casualty rates may force Russian dictator Vladimir Putin "to choose between conducting forced mobilization or sitting down at the negotiating table to end the war."
Recall
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree on autumn conscription for military service from October 1 to December 31, 2025. 135,000 Russian citizens aged 18 to 30 who are not in the reserve are subject to conscription.
Russia increases payments to military to avoid mobilization - DIU11.10.24, 16:26