The number of Russians signing up to fight in Ukraine at Moscow recruitment centers have dropped 80% over the last six months, according to a new report.
Instead, more and more foreigners are signing up in exchange for the enlistment payout of nearly $20,000.
Recruitment centers in the Russian capital are seeing about 40 applicants a day, a significant drop from the summer frenzy when more than 200 recruits signed up each day, the local Verstka magazine reports.
Patriotic young Russians were energized in part by the Ukrainian counter-invasion of the Kursk region of Russia.
“In August, we could barely cope. People came en masse, 200-250 people a day,” a source from the Moscow mayor’s office told the magazine.
“Both money and the entry of the Ukrainian Armed Forces into the Kursk region played a role. Now interest has fallen to minimal levels,” the source added.
Prior to Ukraine’s incursion in Kursk, the Kremlin began offering a one-time payment of $19,200 to attract new recruits and bolster its forces, which has grown weary after more than two years of war.
The payments, however, are no longer attracting Russians like they did before.
Foreigners from Africa and Asia, however, are now making up half of all applicants at the Moscow center, Verstka reports.
Sources from the mayor’s office say there is no evidence that the foreigners are being purposefully shipped into the capital as part of a deal between Russia and other nations.
Instead, the foreigners appeared to be lured by other fighters who boasted about the payments and the ability to gain combat experience fighting with Russia.
One man, who said he was from Bangladesh, said he went to the recruitment center to sign up after a friend successfully enlisted and invited him to join for the money.
“I am a student. My family financial condition is not good. I need to support them,” the man told Verstka.
Another foreign fighter, who said he was from Ghana, said he was also invited to Russia by a friend and saw an opportunity to fulfill his dream of going to war.
“I came and I realized that there’s an opportunity to join the army. I see advertising in metro everywhere,” he said of Moscow. “To serve is my dream.”
Recruiters, however, warn of the effectiveness of the foreign fighters given that none of them appear to speak Russian, an issue that has been seen with the more than 10,000 North Korean fighters shipped off to fight in Kursk.
US officials estimate that thousands of North Koreans have died on the battlefield, with the foreign fighters reportedly performing blunders on the frontlines over the language barrier issue.
Along with the foreigners, Russians who are under investigation for crimes are also making up the bulk of enlistments following President Vladimir Putin’s order last month allowing defendants in court to sign military contracts during times of war.
