The Kremlin plans to "quietly" recruit more than 400,000 Russians for the war with Ukraine in 2023.

Most of them will be contractors from low-income families.

The Washington Post writes about this with reference to the documents of the American intelligence leaked to the Internet by Jack Teixeira.

The size of the army of the Russian Federation

According to Western intelligence estimates, when Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, it had an army of about 150,000 people.

During the mobilization last fall, more than 300,000 people were drafted, and approximately 50,000 more were recruited into the "Wagner" PMC, including convicts.

Western intelligence does not know the number of men forcibly conscripted by the Russians in the occupied territories, as well as the number of small volunteer units.

Russia has not publicly disclosed how many troops it has sent to Ukraine or lost there.

But various estimates show that about half of the roughly 500,000 troops deployed or called up in the past 15 months remain combat-ready.

"Silent" mobilization

The article noted that additional mobilization could further alienate the public from Putin.

For this reason, the Kremlin decided to involve regional governors in conscription campaigns, as well as to continue recruiting prisoners.

Also, in the Russian Federation, conscript soldiers will continue to be pressured to sign contracts.

In addition to the goal of recruiting 400,000 people for the war this year, Russian Defense Ministry officials "announced a Putin-backed plan" to recruit more than 415,000 contract troops by 2023.

The figure is likely part of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's publicly announced plan to increase the Russian Armed Forces to 1.5 million, up from the current 1.15 million, by 2026.

In the Russian Federation, they do not really know the number of losses

According to released documents, the United States estimated that Russia suffered between 189,500 and 223,000 casualties, including up to 43,000 killed.

According to the publication, the internal special services of the Russian Federation do not even share reliable information about Russian losses among themselves.

In one of the documents in late February, the FSB questioned internal military estimates, claiming that they did not take into account the deaths of soldiers who fought in irregular formations.

"The actual number of Russians wounded and killed during the hostilities is approaching 110,000," the CIA document said, citing FSB data.

It is noted that out of 415 thousand contractors:

  • "300,000 will serve in the reserve,

  • 115,000 will form new units or replenish understaffed units, based on current estimates that Russian forces in Ukraine have a shortfall of 50,000 active and 40,000 reservists."

Earlier, The Washington Post wrote that the Russian Federation will be able to finance the war in Ukraine for at least another year.

The publication also reported that Ukraine was preparing strikes on Moscow on February 24 this year, but canceled them at the request of the United States.

We will remind you that TSN.ua reported all the details of the large-scale leak of secret information from the Pentagon.

Read also:

  • The first Pentagon data leak occurred 48 hours after the Russian invasion of Ukraine - NYT

  • At the meeting with the president of South Korea, Biden will "press" for the supply of shells to Ukraine - mass media

  • Reznikov on the counteroffensive: "It will happen unexpectedly and everyone will understand everything"

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