Russia plans to enlist 400,000 contract soldiers for its army in 2024 – British intelligence

In 2024, the Russian government plans to recruit approximately 400,000 contract soldiers for their military to make up for major casualties suffered in the war with Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense of Great Britain reports this.

As noted by British analysts, the Russian authorities continue to recruit new soldiers every spring and autumn. Yes, the following spring draft this year began on April 1. About 150,000 military personnel aged 18-30 are planned to be drafted into the Russian army.

According to British intelligence, these conscripts will serve 12 months in all Russian Federation's armed forces branches. Currently, they are not involved in hostilities in Ukraine. Conscripts are recruited to military garrisons throughout the Russian Federation.

At the same time, some conscripts are probably serving in units close to the Ukrainian border.

"It is noted that the Russian forces in Ukraine are staffed with contract servicemen and some reservists mobilized at the end of 2022. Conscripts are usually pressured to enter contract service and then serve in Ukraine.

There is likely to be some reluctance among Russian authorities to risk combat casualties among conscripts, which would likely be unpopular," British intelligence emphasized.

The British Ministry of Defense clarified that losses among contract soldiers are more acceptable for [Russian – ed.] society.

The main point of the message was that this year, Russia plans to hire roughly 400,000 contracted soldiers to aid its forces in Ukraine, which have suffered substantial casualties. This move also supports its previous announcement to raise the size of its armed forces from 1.32 million this year to 1.5 million in the future.

For reference:

Russia intends to keep filling the ranks of its occupying forces. Just recently, there were predictions in Britain that Putin will be enlisting an additional 170,000 individuals to fight against Ukraine.

Putin announced that by the year's end, he aims to enlist 500,000 Russians to join the fight against Ukraine, with 617,000 already actively engaged.

In addition, covert mobilization continues in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. On the territory of the Luhansk region, the Russian invaders started the so-called spring wave of "mobilization."

In addition, the invaders acquired information about individuals on the Dnipro River's left bank during so-called "elections" to recruit them for future mobilization.

In turn, British intelligence believes that Russia's plans to create two new armies this year will face problems with new equipment and infrastructure.