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With 30,000+ Troops Recruited Monthly, Russia Surpasses Its Targets, Ukrainian Intelligence Says
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Russia maintains a high level of personnel availability for its armed forces, with operational reserves and ongoing recruitment efforts supported by financial incentives.
This assessment was shared by Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, in an interview with Suspilne on August 12.
“One of the strengths of the Russian Armed Forces grouping is that they have operational reserves. They use them for rotations, reinforcement in the most critical sectors of the front, and for replenishing battlefield losses,” Skibitskyi said.
“This is an important element, and we monitor it closely—when rotations take place, when units are withdrawn for replenishment and recovery,” Skibitskyi said.
“The staffing level of the Russian Armed Forces is quite high. For example, the officer corps across the entire grouping is staffed at 98%. This is a very high figure. They try to maintain equally high levels in personnel staffing. The figures mentioned—30–35,000 people per month, depending on the intensity of hostilities—are used to replenish losses in Russian Armed Forces units.”
According to Skibitskyi, about 25% of these recruits are currently in detention facilities, under investigation, or facing criminal charges. He noted that Russia’s monthly recruitment plans are fulfilled at least 105–110%.
“As of today (the interview was recorded in early August), they have already met about 67% of their goal of recruiting 343,000 for this year. Preliminary data indicates they have already decided to increase this figure by at least 15–17%, but we do not yet have confirmation whether this decision has taken effect,” he said.
Skibitskyi added that Russia faces no current problems with recruitment, offering large sign-on payments, which he described as significant for the average Russian citizen.
“They announced partial mobilization only once—in autumn 2022—recruiting 300,000. The rest they are bringing in without mobilization. People are also lured by benefits such as free higher education for their children and favorable mortgage conditions,” Skibitskyi said.
“And importantly, families in the Russian Federation support this. They, as they say, have a positive attitude toward the fact that their father, brother, or son will die in the war—because the family will get money. Especially, you know, when a wife says: ‘Better go fight than sit here drinking vodka all day.’”
Earlier, during an August 1 meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin claimed that all Russian military losses in Ukraine were “for a cause” and insisted that forces were advancing “along the entire line of contact.” He also asserted that Chasiv Yar had fallen to Russian troops—a statement Ukrainian officials dismissed as disinformation.
