Russian Regions Failing to Meet Quotas for Volunteers to Serve as Professional Soldiers, ‘NeMoskva’ Reports

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 21 – Moscow is counting on poverty and patriotism to lead more young people to sign up as professional soldiers, but neither factor is working, the NeMoskva portal says, with officials in numerous regions reporting that they have been unable to meet the quotas Moscow has assigned to them.

            According to the portal, which focuses on news from beyond the ring road, such shortfalls in recruiting have occurred in Irkutsk Oblast, the Khanty-Mansiisk AD, and Bashkortostan, a trend that likely extends to other federal subjects across Russia  (nemoskva.net/v-regionah-rossii-ne-hvataet-kontraktnikov/)

            In the case of Bashkortostan, the officials were able to recruit only half of the number of men that Moscow had ordered to be sent to the Russian army as professional soldiers during March and April. Such shortfalls will make it ever more difficult for Moscow to compensate for combat losses in Ukraine.