Russia sees record low contract enlistments while army faces high casualties
Photo: Contract signings fell 2.5-fold over the past year (Getty Images)
Russia continues to see a decline in the recruitment of contract soldiers. Currently, there are not always enough recruits to cover losses, said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation (CCD).
He reported that in the second quarter of 2025, only 37,900 people signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense. This is the lowest figure in the past two years. It is 2.5 times lower than the same period in 2024, when 92,800 people enlisted.
Moreover, Russia now often lacks enough contract soldiers to replace losses.
"Contract soldiers are no longer always sufficient to cover the weekly irreversible losses of the Russian army. I remind you, according to General Staff data, Russian daily losses average over 1,000 personnel," Kovalenko said.
Russian army losses
As of September 20, Russian losses since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine have exceeded 1.1 million personnel. In just the past 24 hours, the enemy lost 1,070 soldiers on the front lines.
In addition, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to inflict other losses. In the past day alone, they destroyed 31 artillery systems, two infantry fighting vehicles, one tank, 124 vehicles, and 300 drones.
