The war in Ukraine has been a costly endeavour for russia, especially in terms of military personnel. Since the start of the full-scale invasion russia has likely suffered over 610,000 casualties (killed and wounded). Tactics based on mass infantry waves has required russia to continuously replenish front line forces with a constant stream of new recruits, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
It is likely that russian military recruitment rates in 2024 have decreased compared to rates achieved in 2023. Russian officials suggested in late 2023 that the Ministry of Defense of russia was recruiting at a rate of around 1,600 daily. However, publicly cited figures this year put the rate at around 1,000 daily. These figures are themselves probably inflated to an extent.
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This has led the Ministry of Defense of russia to increase sign on bonuses in August 2024, an increasingly expensive recruitment strategy for russia. Estimates suggest military personnel payments amounted to around 8% of federal spending in the year to June 2024. Payment increases will nonetheless probably bolster recruitment levels for the remainder of the year.
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