The authorized strength of the Russian Armed Forces will increase by 27,000 positions as of Aug. 1—from 2,399,130 set in June to 2,426,130—under a decree signed by Vladimir Putin. The number of military personnel will increase by 25,000, from 1,510,000 to 1,535,000. The number of civilian personnel will grow by another 2,000. The document states that the new expansion is linked to the creation of military construction units. This is already the third (1, 2) increase in the size of the Russian army in 2026 and the sixth (1, 2) since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. Before the invasion, a 2017 decree set the total authorized strength of the RuAF at 1,902,758, of which 1,013,628 were military personnel. Thus, since 2022...
Aleksey Ionov, the former deputy head of the Dmitrov Urban District in the Moscow region, who is accused of accepting a large-scale bribe, has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and deployed to the frontline. Proceedings in his criminal case have been suspended. Ionov was arrested in February of last year. According to investigators, he and another official accepted 4.35 million rubles [$55,600] in exchange for facilitating the award of a contract to install advertising structures.
More convicts will be able to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense during mobilization, martial law, or wartime under a bill that the State Duma [lower house of Russia's Federal Assembly] approved in the first reading and then immediately in the second and third. The measure will lift restrictions for those convicted under a number of articles of Russia's Criminal Code, including those covering serious crimes. Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Goremykin said that those convicted under these articles will serve only in special units, separately from regular contract soldiers and under the strict control of commanders. According to a tally by the Pervy Otdel [Department One] human rights project, in the first half of 2025 courts...
The Pepel [Ashes] Telegram channel reports that the command is forcing fighters of Belgorod’s Orlan unit to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense. Legally, they had not previously been service members and had not signed contracts with the MoD. Instead, they had concluded civilian agreements with an entity created by the Belgorod regional government. They are now being offered a contract with the MoD for service in a volunteer unit. The agreement is with a Russian Aerospace Forces training center, runs for 12 months, and provides for the possibility of transfer to another volunteer unit if operationally necessary.
The government introduced a bill in the State Duma [lower house of Russia's Federal Assembly] to expand the list of convicts who can sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense during mobilization, martial law, or wartime. The bill would lift restrictions for those convicted under several articles of Russia's Criminal Code covering smuggling, participation in a gang or criminal community, illegal interference with the operation of critically important facilities, illegal handling of nuclear materials, organizing illegal migration, and losing documents containing state secrets. The ban on signing a contract would remain for those convicted of terrorism, sabotage, treason, espionage, and sexual crimes against minors. The changes amend...
The Kemerovo city administration has announced a reward of 115,000 rubles [$1,480] for anyone who "assists" recruits in signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense. For active-duty military personnel and law enforcement officers, the reward is 92,000 rubles [$1,180]. Draft office employees and relatives of those signing contracts are ineligible for the reward. The wider Kemerovo region offers a separate reward of 20,000 rubles [$260]. The regional budget has allocated approximately 20 million rubles [$257,400] for this purpose.
The draft office for the Kirovsky and Oktyabrsky districts of Yekaterinburg requested information from the Ural State Law University about students facing expulsion, as well as 2026 graduates. According to a letter from the draft office to the rector, the information is needed to "fulfill the established assignment for selecting citizens" for contract military service in the Unmanned Systems Forces. At the close of the letter, the military commissar asks the university to send those students and graduates to the draft office for recruitment. The university instructed institute directors to prepare lists of students facing expulsion.
Anton Filimonov, an 18-year-old orphan from the Pskov region, claims that officials forced him to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense before he turned 18. Filimonov, who just turned 18 on July 7, decided to drop out of the Pskov Agrotechnical College six months ago. When he visited the college to formally withdraw, a man in a military uniform standing nearby asked to speak with him. The man tried to persuade Filimonov to sign documents, assuring him that he would not be sent to the frontline and that he would instead serve in a safe location and receive good pay. Ultimately, Filimonov signed the documents, but he kept neither copies nor photographs of them. On July 6, the day before his 18th birthday, employees of the Pskov...
The State Duma [lower house of Russia's Federal Assembly] approved a bill in its second and third readings on voluntary post-penitentiary probation for ex-convicts released from prison after signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense and returning from the war against Ukraine. The initiative offers social reintegration, psychological, medical, and legal assistance, as well as support in finding employment and pursuing education after service. The bill keeps participation voluntary, although the Ministry of Internal Affairs had proposed making probation mandatory for up to three years. To participate in the program, an ex-convict must submit an application to the penal inspectorate at their place of residence or current location...
Saint Petersburg State University's administration sent students a letter advertising contract service as a UAV specialist in the 12th Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, which oversees military nuclear development, prepares for nuclear weapons tests, and manages the storage and operation of the nuclear arsenal. The letter states that the service will take place in the Arctic. It also promises that students who sign a one-year contract will receive a one-time payment of 3.8 million rubles [$49,100] and a university stipend of 50,000 rubles [$650].