The Kremlin's recruiters are crushing their targets and might get their 2025 goals bumped up, Ukraine spy chief says

Business Insider

3 days ago

The Kremlin's military recruitment is doing so well this year that it may increase its annual target again, said the deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence.
"In general, the Russian Federation's recruitment plans are being fulfilled by at least 105 to 110% each month," said Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitsky, in an interview with Ukrainian news outlet Suspilne that was published on Tuesday.
Skibitsky said Russia has likely recruited two-thirds of the 343,000 new soldiers it aims to field in 2025, putting it on track to hit its annual goal.
Russia's expanded military recruitment, buoyed by large sign-up bonuses and other perks for families of injured or killed soldiers, has been a driving force for Moscow's ability to sustain its war in Ukraine.
Sign-up bonuses vary depending on the region in Russia, with local governments in areas such as Moscow and St. Petersburg offering higher payouts. The baseline bonus is set at 400,000 rubles, according to a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the summer of 2024.
"For an average citizen of the Russian Federation, a simple worker, this is a lot of money. In the case of the first contract, we are talking about an average of 1.5-2 million Russian rubles," Skibitsky said.
2 million rubles is worth roughly $25,000. Russia's federal statistics service said in its latest update that the average wage in the country was about $1,200 a month in February.
Skibitsky said the accelerated recruitment rate means Russia can send up to 35,000 fresh troops a month to the front — critical to the Kremlin's strategy of repeatedly launching costly ground assaults that wear down Ukrainian defenses.
Ukraine also has intelligence that the Kremlin plans to follow up on its success this year by increasing recruitment goals by 15 to 17%, Skibitsky added.
"But we do not yet have confirmation whether this decision has come into effect," the spy chief said, without providing further detail about the intelligence.
His latest comments come after Ukrainian intelligence said in March that Russia had pushed its recruitment goal for 2024 from 380,000 troops to 430,000.
The Kremlin's recruitment drive has also been buttressed by changes in Russia's legal system that allow prisoners or people with charges filed against them to avoid trial by joining the military.
Skibitsky said that about 25% of Russia's new recruits are those who committed crimes or are under investigation.
Moscow spent an estimated $25.68 billion on salaries, bonuses, and perks for war personnel in the first half of 2025, according to an analysis in July by Re:Russia, an analytics platform run by exiled Russian academics. The country is expected to spend 6.3% of its GDP on defense this year, a record high since the Soviet Union fell in 1991.
The Kremlin's recruitment is so extensive that the sheer number of people joining the military industry has reportedly driven up labor costs for civilian industries, particularly in service sectors.
On the other hand, Kyiv has struggled for years to replenish and maintain its troop numbers on the front lines. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Russian forces outnumber his country's soldiers by three to one.