Russia to recruit 400,000 troops for its war in Ukraine – The Washington Post

Russian officials want to "quietly" recruit more than 400,000 Russians to the war with Ukraine in 2023. Mostly at the expense of contractors from low-income families, The Washington Post reports.

This information comes from leaked documents from the Pentagon. In mid-February, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin supported the proposal of his military to "quietly recruit" 400,000 additional military personnel during 2023 for the war in Ukraine.

The document, categorized as a CIA daily intelligence update, indicates the information was based on a "signals intelligence report," meaning it was acquired by intercepting or eavesdropping on communications of Russian military officials.

Russia does not publicly disclose how many soldiers it has sent to Ukraine or lost there. According to various estimates, about half of the approximately 500,000 servicemen sent or drafted into the army over the past 15 months remain available.

The need for additional troops threatens to alienate the Russian public and further destabilize the country's economy, which is already under the pressure of Western sanctions, export controls and other punitive measures, the media reports.

Last autumn, partial mobilization caused a massive outflow of men of military age. This exhausted both labor resources and the conscript contingent.

There is also an unknown number of men forcibly conscripted in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics to fight alongside pro-Russian separatists and smaller volunteer units.

According to the leaked documents, the United States estimates that Russia has suffered 189,500 to 223,000 casualties, with up to 43,000 killed.