There are fewer people willing to fight: recruitment of contract soldiers to the army is collapsing in Russia

In the first three months of 2026, the Kremlin failed to recruit the planned number of contract soldiers into the ranks of the Russian army.

This was reported by the project “I Want to Live”.

This year, Russia planned to recruit 409,000 contract soldiers — approximately 34,000 per month or 1,100 per day.

However, during the first three months of 2026, the number of signed contracts was just over 940 per day.

“It is worth remembering that the number of signed contracts does not equal the number of those who actually arrived at the units,” the project noted.

As noted, if the same trend continues, the Russian army may be short by 16%, or more than 65,000 people.

“For comparison: in March alone, the Russian Federation lost 31,960 servicemen killed, missing, wounded, and captured,” the report says.

The largest number of contract soldiers is expected to arrive from Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Moscow and the region, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Territory, as well as Rostov and Samara regions. The Russian Ministry of Defense has set the smallest plan for the North Caucasus Federal District.

“Just for comparison: from Moscow they plan to recruit 1 in 200 men aged 18-65 (years old – ed.), and in Chukotka 1 in 50,” the post states.

The leader in implementing the plan for contract workers is the Ural Federal District, in particular thanks to the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, where more than 37% of the annual plan has already been implemented.

Instead, the subjects of the North Caucasus Federal District – North Ossetia and Dagestan – are failing to recruit. They have not even fulfilled 8% of the annual plan.

“The entire district is actually “pulling out” Chechnya, where Kadyrov organized the recruitment of residents of other regions to fulfill Chechnya’s indicators,” explained “I Want to Live.”

At the same time, the Russian Federation plans to recruit people from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the army, however, “the Russian authorities have no illusions about the success of voluntary recruitment of citizens” there. Nevertheless, for the TOT of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the plan is 500 people per region, for Crimea and the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions — 3 thousand people each.

It is separately noted that almost a quarter of all contract workers are a “special contingent.” In particular, these include convicted persons, persons under investigation, defendants, and citizens with enforcement proceedings. Among them, debtors are the largest category — almost 40%.

In addition, Russia planned to recruit at least 18,500 citizens from other countries.

As a reminder, the Russian authorities have completed preparations for the mass conscription of residents of the occupied Ukrainian territories , having created a rigid system of military registration.

As is known, Russia has recruited up to 15,000 Cuban citizens into its army , but their role on the front remains limited.

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