Vladimir Putin is so desperate for troops to bolster his attempted invasion of Ukraine he has been forced to turn to criminals, the homeless and football hooligans to be his ‘expendable manpower’.
Keen to avoid another unpopular recruitment drive, Moscow has been forced to look elsewhere for troop after losing an estimated one million frontline soldiers since the start of the war.
After ordering a ‘partial mobilisation’ in September 2022, Putin has since allowed for foreign nationals to join his ranks, with North Korea confirmed to have deployed thousands of troops to the Kursk offensive in recent months.
This initial call to arms wasn’t popular among the country’s fighting-age population as recruiters raided offices and public transport in search of newfound soldiers, forcing up to hundreds of thousands to flee.
Now, leaked audio recordings claim to depict Russian military officials referring to the latest batch of volunteers as “second-rate infantry”, utilised to wear down Ukrainian forces, with some even appearing to call them “expendable manpower”.
The Russian military has reportedly been visiting prisons, homeless shelters and even extended offers to football hooligans, despite its illegality, to send conscripts into combat.
Broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)’s investigation unit, Systema, reports a recent investigation uncovered that a new, alternative system, called Dobrokor, short for Dobrovolchesky Korpus (Volunteer Corps), is being used to recruit people who would otherwise baulk at conscription.
Elsewhere, Redut, a private mercenary company which has deployed thousands to the frontline, is believed to be controlled by Russia’s GRU, making it a state-controlled recruitment network, according to the RFE/RL analysis.
Both pathways promise different incentives for draftees, with standard military contracts with Russia’s Defence Ministry automatically renewed until its “special military operation” in Ukraine is deemed to be complete.
But, enrollment for either body offers stark differences, with Redut operating in a quasi-legal grey area, along with no guarantees for hospitals, often no signing bonus and being more lenient on health and legal criteria.
Dobrokor offers full military benefits and support, but a smaller than traditional signing bonus. Basic gear and uniform are also provided upfront with Dobrokor, which operates with a stricter recruitment standard.
Still, Systema proposed that military officials see these recruits as cannon-fodder, expendables churned out to help the Russian warmachine rumble forward, inch by inch.
The aforementioned taped conversation, presented by Systema, from last year, features Russian lawmaker Aleksandr Borodai claiming military brass in the Motherland view volunteer soldiers as “second-rate infantry” whose task is to “exhaust the enemy’s manpower” as much as possible before regular army units mount an attack.
Redut was created “so that people could avoid paying taxes or, for example, any court costs,” one recruiter told Systema in 2023.
More than 18,000 volunteers signed up to Russia’s frontline in the first six months of 2025, with an additional 210,000 signing official contracts, according to former President Dmitry Medvedev.
Janis Kluge, an expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, rejects the second sum, estimating it to be closer to 190,000.
US President Donald Trump has issued a 50-day ultimatum to his Russian counterpart, Putin, after hosting NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, on July 14, promising “very severe tariffs… at about 100%” on Russia and secondary sanctions for its trading partners if it did not stop its war in Ukraine.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev called the request “theatrical”, adding that “Russia didn’t care” for the demand. The country has since ramped up drone and missile attacks across Ukraine, killing more civilians than it did at the start of the war, in February 2022, also firing a hypersonic Kinzhal missile.
