Russia more than doubled salaries of some soldiers but is still struggling to recruit people to fight in Ukraine, UK intel says
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- Russia's payments to soldiers have soared since it invaded Ukraine, the UK's Ministry of Defence said.
- Mobilized private soldiers make more than double what lieutenants got when the invasion began.
- Russia, which has struggled to recruit soldiers, likely still won't get as many as it wants, the MoD said.
Russia's payments to many of its soldiers more than doubled since the start of its invasion, but Russia is unlikely to recruit as many fighters as it wants, according to UK intelligence.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in an intelligence update on Tuesday that "military service in the Russian Armed Forces has become increasingly lucrative since the invasion."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 4, 2022, 20 days before he started his full-scale invasion, that a lieutenant received 81,200 rubles (now worth around $849) per month, according to the MoD.
By October 2022, Putin said soldiers far below that rank would make more than double that, saying mobilized private soldiers would receive 195,000 rubles (now worth around $2039) per month.
By now, many junior ranks serving in Ukraine are on more than 200,000 rubles ($2,091) per month, which is over 2.7 times the Russian national average salary of 72,851 rubles ($761), the MoD said.
"It is highly likely that the salary and additional benefits are a strong incentive for personnel to join up, especially to those from the poorer areas of Russia," the MOD added.
"However, Russia is still unlikely to meet its targets for recruiting volunteers to the ranks."
Russia has done one major mobilization of fighters since the invasion began, declaring a "partial mobilization" of 300,000 reservists in September.
That resulted in anti-war protests and thousands of fighting-age men fleeing the country, demonstrating a lack of appetite among many Russians to go and fight.
The MoD also described Putin as seeking to avoid public backlash by recruiting fighters.
It said in May that Russia likely wants to delay the announcement of any obvious mandatory mobilization "to minimize domestic dissent."
And it said Russia was focusing on recruiting Central Asian migrant workers that are in Russia to go and fight in Ukraine.
Russia also tried to recruit from neighboring country Kazakhstan, offering a sign-on bonus of 495,000 rubles, which is around $5,200.
Russia has also recently changed its conscription rules to get more fighters. In July, Putin raised the maximum age men can be conscripted from 27 to 30 years old and Russia also changed the rules so its highest-ranking officers now eligible for general mobilization while being old as 70.
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