Recruitment statistics show high numbers of volunteers, according to Andrey Belousov
More than 400,000 people have joined the Russian Army in 2024, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov revealed during a meeting of top officials in Moscow on Monday, which was chaired by commander-in-chief President Vladimir Putin.
Around 1,200 people voluntarily sign up for military service every day, he said.
“We continue systematic work on staffing the armed forces… Since the start of the year, over 427,000 servicemen have already been recruited,” Belousov stated.
One of the key tasks for the military at the moment is not to lose momentum and continue attracting recruits, he explained, as well as to introduce new techniques regarding personnel training learned from combat experience during the special military operation.
It had previously been reported that more than 300,000 Russian servicemen had undergone such training in reserve regiments. In an article published in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper earlier this month, Colonel General Ivan Buvaltsev, the head of the Main Directorate of Combat Training of the Russian Armed Forces, said training strategies for reserve regiments were being constantly adjusted based on combat experience in the Ukraine conflict.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that increased the number of armed forces personnel to 2.39 million, including 1.5 million military personnel.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained at the time that the decision was based on the increasing number of threats currently faced by Russia, including the “extremely hostile situation on the Western borders and instability on the Eastern borders.”
The decree came into force on December 1. The Russian Army had previously been increased to 2.2 million in December 2023, including 1.32 million military personnel, amid the Ukraine conflict and the ongoing expansion of NATO towards Russian borders.
Belousov did not specify the total number of Russian troops taking part in Moscow’s military operation. Russia also does not make public losses incurred in the conflict with Kiev. However, according to the minister, the Ukrainian Army has lost more than half a million troops in 2024 and over one million since the escalation of the conflict in 2022. He noted that, unlike the Russian military, which has been steadily boosting troop numbers, the Ukrainian Army is severely understaffed, with fewer than 50% of frontline positions currently filled
