More than 400,000 people have joined the Russian army in 2025, with Ukraine in their sights

The Russian military signed more than 422,000 recruitment contracts in 2025, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday, a figure down 6% from 2024.

“422,704 people signed a military service contract,” Dmitry Medvedev said in a video posted on social media. “Another 32,000 people signed a contract for military service on a voluntary basis,” he added. The term is generally used to refer to people fighting in the ranks of paramilitary groups.

In 2025, Dmitri Medvedev claimed that around 450,000 people had signed contracts to serve in the Russian army, and that another 40,000 had volunteered for the “special military operation”, the term by which Moscow designates its offensive in Ukraine which began in February 2022.

Soldiers sent to Ukraine

The Russian army, which does not officially communicate its losses, has been carrying out aggressive recruitment campaigns since the start of its offensive in Ukraine.

After mobilizing some 300,000 reservists from September 2022, the Russian authorities, despite significant losses in Ukraine, preferred to avoid decreeing a new unpopular mobilization which had led to an exodus of Russians abroad.

Future soldiers are promised particularly attractive salaries, signing bonuses and benefits, with a lot of advertising in the streets and on the Internet.

The regions, which must also participate in the recruitment effort, had increased their own bonuses for signatories of contracts with the Russian army in 2024, but several are said to have backed down last year due to economic constraints.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that 700,000 Russian troops were deployed to the front in Ukraine.