Russia has set a record payment for recruiting foreigners to fight in the war against Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
In the Irkutsk region, 1.5 million rubles will be paid for each foreigner recruited into the Russian army. The payment for Russians from other regions has been doubled.
The authorities of the Irkutsk region have set Russia’s highest reward for recruiting foreigners into contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry — 1.5 million rubles per person recruited. The Moscow Times reports this, citing Verstka and a decree by the region’s governor, UNN writes.
Details
Governor Igor Kobzev signed the corresponding decree on September 10. The reward will be paid to those who facilitated the conclusion of a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry by a foreigner or stateless person.
At the same time, the Irkutsk region doubled the payment for recruiting Russian citizens from other regions — from 400,000 to 800,000 rubles. Foreigners were singled out as a separate and most expensive category for the first time.
Recruitment rewards are rising sharply
The Irkutsk region has been paying for the recruitment of contract soldiers since at least April 2026. Previously, the maximum reward was 400,000 rubles, regardless of the recruited person’s citizenship.
Other Russian regions are also expanding similar programs. In the Smolensk region, the payment was increased from 115,000 to 1 million rubles for recruiting a person, while in the Ryazan region it rose from 575,000 to 805,000 rubles for a foreigner from a country outside the CIS or a Russian citizen from another region.
According to Verstka, efforts to recruit foreigners into the Russian army began to intensify in early 2025 amid a decline in the flow of Russian volunteers. The outlet also reported cases of foreigners being forced to sign contracts and threatened with deportation.