Russian recruiting barely compensates for losses on the front

Army recruitment crisis in Russia

According to Главком: Serious difficulties in replenishing the personnel of the Russian army were noted by the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, at the forum "Security Architecture". According to him, mobilization campaigns in Russia have not ceased since the beginning of the full-scale invasion and continue to this day.

“Recruiting work and mobilization activities in Russia have not stopped throughout the full-scale invasion and are still ongoing” - Andriy Yusov.

Yusov noted that the scale of enlistment in the Russian Federation barely compensates for the losses incurred by the army.

“Losses need to be compensated, and the scale of recruiting barely covers the losses on the battlefield” - Andriy Yusov.

Previously, to replenish the army, the Russian authorities actively recruited convicts and representatives of marginalized groups. However, Yusov believes this creates additional difficulties for Putin and the occupying troops. They are currently searching for a way out of the situation, as:

• Mobilizing only prisoners no longer has the desired effect.
• Drafting conditionally convicted individuals has also ceased to be sufficient.

Furthermore, Russia continues attempts to engage foreign mercenaries in combat actions. A recent decree by Vladimir Putin requiring the police to conduct preventive work with draft dodgers was a consequence of the inefficiency of the electronic register of military personnel. Ivan Chuvilyaev, press officer of the anti-war fund "Go to the forest," spoke about the failure of this register in an interview with the publication "Glavkom." He noted that since the beginning of 2026, Russians summoned to enlistment offices under the pretext of updating data are increasingly being forced to sign mobilization orders.

“There are no queues of volunteers there,” emphasized Yusov, pointing to the crisis situation with recruiting for the army in Russia. The situation requires urgent solutions, but the existing methods - involving prisoners and marginalized individuals - are no longer yielding the desired results.

This situation reveals the problems facing Russia in the military sphere and mobilization efforts. Given the constant losses on the front, the insufficient level of recruiting could affect the country’s ability to maintain combat readiness. At the same time, changes in legislation and new initiatives to attract draft dodgers demonstrate the Russian government's attempts to find fresh methods to replenish the army, which may indicate a worsening crisis in this area. It is important for the Russian audience to understand that the statements of Ukrainian intelligence reflect real problems within the Russian Federation, which are also confirmed by independent sources.

Against the backdrop of current recruitment problems, the Kremlin is considering new measures for mobilization, indicating a growing crisis in the Russian army. Given the record losses on the front, the authorities are trying to find alternative ways to attract new fighters, which only exacerbates existing difficulties.