Russia increases pay to tackle soldier shortage amid heavy losses

The deepening shortage of soldiers to fight in Ukraine has led Russia to increase recruit rewards to avoid an unpopular mobilization. However, the agency reports that there are no signs that this is effective so far.

According to Bloomberg, the army is not acquiring enough new soldiers to compensate for the losses on the front, which are currently the highest since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.

A person familiar with the situation told Bloomberg that regional officials are meeting, on average, just under two-thirds of their recruitment target.

Two sources told the agency that Russia may consider another mobilization. According to one, this could be presented as a rotation to relieve soldiers fighting on the front. According to another, the new draft could be announced as early as the end of this year.

Bloomberg writes that Russia's inability to repel the Ukrainian offensive, which has been ongoing since August 6, has highlighted the army's lack of reserves.

Moscow has hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the front line, where they are suffering increasing losses, although the front line is essentially not moving. President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilization of 300,000 reservists in September 2022, causing increased concern about the war among Russians and an exodus of a million people from the country. Not wanting to repeat that experience, the Kremlin is focusing on appeals for patriotism and cash offers to attract 30,000 new soldiers each month necessary to replenish losses, the report reads.

For this reason, Bloomberg emphasizes, the Kremlin has radically increased the pay for recruits from federal and regional authorities. The pressure is so high that richer provinces attract men from poorer regions with higher rewards.

The scale of Russian losses and the insufficient replenishment level increasingly hinder maintaining the current strategy of slowly working out new gains in Ukraine. Bloomberg reports, citing a person familiar with the situation, that there is no longer talk of conquering Kyiv and other cities because Russia lacks soldiers.

In July, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin promised 1.9 million rubles ($22,000) to volunteers who sign military contracts and 600,000 rubles ($6,556) annually, paid in monthly installments by the city authorities and bonuses offered by the defense ministry.

According to the Moscow mayor, if they survive, new recruits can receive 5.2 million rubles (about $57,000) in their first year of service. This is roughly three times the average salary in Moscow.

Putin has also instructed the government to double the federal reward paid to new recruits to 400,000 rubles (about $4,370) by the end of the year and called on provinces to allocate similar amounts. Some regions are turning to Moscow for grants as they cannot meet this demand - said an official familiar with the situation.

According to Bloomberg economist Alex Isakov, Putin needs about 500,000 people over the next 12 months to replace personnel losses and rotate soldiers in Ukraine.

He believes Russia's current recruitment strategy, which involves paying volunteers high wages, is not sufficient, and the government will have to start focusing on conscription.

Russian authorities do not disclose the extent of their losses in Ukraine. Western estimates suggest that Russia may have lost up to 500,000 soldiers in this war. According to the British Ministry of Defense, the last three months have brought Russia the most losses - in May, an average of 1,262 Russian soldiers died daily.