The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reported that the Russian authorities are allocating significant funds from local budgets to recruiters' fees, while cutting funding for social programs. The Foreign Intelligence Service wrote about this on Telegram, UNN reports.
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Moscow officially allowed such payments in the summer of 2024, but shifted the financial burden to the regions. As a result, officials are forced to cut spending on medicine, education, and housing programs to fulfill "Kremlin's mobilization plans."
Saratov Oblast is a "record holder" among the regions
From summer 2024 to October 2025, the region spent about 400 million rubles on bonuses for military recruiters – an amount comparable to the costs of the program for resettling residents from dilapidated housing.
Other regions are not far behind: Ulyanovsk Oblast paid 373 million rubles for recruiting 1,864 contract soldiers – almost as much as is spent on monthly allowances for rural teachers. Smolensk Oblast allocated 163 million rubles for 1,664 recruits, which corresponds to its annual budget for supporting the unemployed.
Some regions are introducing a "gradation" of rewards: in Ryazan Oblast, recruiters receive 574 thousand rubles for a foreigner, 80 thousand for a migrant from CIS countries, and only 57 thousand for a local resident.
Budget crisis and curtailment of payments
Due to the growing budget deficit, at least seven Russian regions – including Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Mari El, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk Oblasts, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug – have already reduced the volume of payments.
Saratov Oblast, which until recently was a leader in bonuses, was the first to completely abandon the "Send a friend to war" program – payments stopped on October 28, 2025.