Russia’s military contract enlistment plunges to two-year low
In the second quarter of 2025, 37,900 Russians signed contracts with the Defense Ministry, according to the Russian outlet Vazhnyye Istorii ( Important Stories), which cited federal budget spending data.
The recruitment figure is the weakest in the past two years and 2.5 times lower than the same period in 2024, when 92,800 new contract soldiers received payments.
Overall, 127,500 people received signing bonuses in the first six months of this year. By comparison, from January to June 2024, 166,200 such payments were made. In other words, the Russian military is losing momentum even versus last year, when the drive to attract soldiers was already sputtering.
Officials, however, are citing very different numbers. Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said 210,000 contract soldiers joined in the first half of 2025 - a figure one and a half times higher than the official budget data. Discrepancies have appeared before, but not on this scale.
Problems with recruitment are also evident on the ground. In the Irkutsk region, authorities acknowledged they cannot meet their target for new recruits due to a lack of funds to increase bonuses. In the Vladimir region, officials stopped publishing data on how many people were sent to the front, though they had done so regularly since 2023. In July, the region was forced to raise its one-time signing bonus by nearly half a million rubles.
Taken together, Russia’s military recruitment system is facing an unmistakable crisis. Despite bold statements from the Kremlin, the actual data point to a significant decline in those willing to serve, and regional authorities are being pushed to compete for every recruit by boosting cash incentives.