Vladimir Putin is reportedly struggling to replace huge numbers of Russian army casualties as the conflict in Ukraine is set to drag on into its third year.
The Russian President launched a full-scale invasion of the eastern European country on February 24, 2022. Now, officials estimate that more than 700,000 Russian troops have died or suffered injuries since the war began.
48,000 are missing, according to reports.
Duma Defense Committee member Viktor Sobolev has said that 740,000 people have signed Russian military service contracts — a number presumed to date from the beginning of the invasion, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote.
It added: “Russian officials continue to justify the Kremlin’s decision to not conduct an involuntary reserve call up at this time despite indications that the Russian military is struggling to recruit enough new personnel to replace its high casualties.”
Russia is currently under partial mobilisation, which sees military reservists, which, Putin said, are “primarily those who served in the armed forces and have specific military occupational specialties and corresponding experience”, called up.
Officials are debating the prospect of general mobilisation in the country. But Sobolev claimed that this would “only make things worse”, as it would send people without any previous military experience nor specialised skills to the battlefield.
The Defence Committee’s First Deputy Chairperson Andrei Krasov claimed that mobilisation is not necessary because military registration and enlistment officers are successfully recruiting new personnel.
The ISW noted: “These Russian Duma deputies are likely claiming that Russian recruitment rates are sufficient in order to assuage fears among the Russian public of a widely unpopular potential new partial involuntary reserve call up.”
Russian citizens are “less willing to volunteer to fight”, experts said.
They added that “the Russian military may be struggling to recruit enough new military personnel”, as reports observed in late 2024 and January 2025 suggest that the Russian military’s monthly recruitment rate is “likely equal to or below the quantity needed to replace Russia’s monthly casualty rate one-to-one”.
The ISW has also seen reports that “select Russian federal subjects are failing to meet their monthly recruitment quotas”.