By Sultan Musayev | 2026-03-03

While much of Russia's economy struggles, one sector continues to grow: the business of supplying people to the army.

Even as the Kremlin signals interest in peace talks, the Defense Ministry keeps sending fresh troops into the war. Russian forces are losing personnel faster in offensive operations than Ukraine, forcing authorities to replenish ranks quickly.

Regional governments face recruitment targets and increasingly rely on intermediaries -- paid recruiters who locate volunteers and guide them through enlistment. These services are legal and financed from regional budgets.

Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service estimated that about 1,200 people a day were signing contracts as of July 2025, nearly offsetting battlefield losses.

Paid recruitment network

Recruiting has become lucrative. Job ads for recruiters appear on employment sites and online forums, and candidates often receive training through staffing agencies before they begin soliciting volunteers.

Recruiters advertise heavily on social networks such as VKontakte, promoting military service "for the benefit of the homeland" alongside middle-class-level salaries and promises of assistance through every stage of enlistment.

Ulan Omorov, a supermarket manager in Moscow originally from Kyrgyzstan, told Kontur acquaintances repeatedly tried to persuade him to sign a contract, stressing that he would "earn good money."

"I blocked them everywhere," Omorov said. "They're like networkers who bring their friends in and get bonuses for doing it, except that the recruiters are sending people to their deaths."

Regions formally introduced recruitment payments in summer 2024. Compensation varies by the recruit's background. According to iStories, Ryazan Region pays about 575,000 RUB ($7,600) for a recruit from another region or from abroad. Recruiters receive roughly one-seventh of that sum -- about 80,000 RUB ($1,050) for a migrant from a post-Soviet state and about 57,000 RUB ($750) for a local recruit. The money comes from public budgets.

Profit over consequences

The payouts attract people from widely different backgrounds seeking quick income.

In July 2024, Sever.Realii profiled recruiters, including an 18-year-old intermediary who said he relies on financial incentives to persuade potential recruits.

"My main tool is the calculator," he said. "I do some math, show them a number and then estimate what the person can buy for that amount. The possibilities make their head spin, and then they sign up. And I get a little bit."

Some recruiters build their own networks. One intermediary, Arseny, hires others and pays them 10,000 RUB ($130) per volunteer.

Natalya, a mother of three on maternity leave, also recruits. She expressed little concern about the risks recruits face.

"Why should that concern me? They wanted to go themselves. I'm just helping them find their way," she said, noting rising prices and the need to support her children.

Recruitment goes digital

At the top end, recruitment has moved online. Some IT specialists now operate large-scale digital funnels designed to drive enlistment.

In August 2025, Saint Petersburg SEO agency owner Vasily Zharkov wrote on VKontakte that he had boosted a recruitment platform's search ranking to the top pages of Google and Yandex. He said the site now receives nearly 13,000 applications per month from people seeking contracts with the Defense Ministry.

Not all reactions were supportive.

A user with the handle Roman Gennadievich wished that Zharkov would personally join the so-called special military operation and experience all the horrors of war.

"Do you even understand that you're now complicit in reducing the population?" he wrote.

Regional spending on recruiters has grown sharply.

By October 2025, one in three Russian regions was paying intermediaries to help secure contract soldiers, according to iStories. Authorities spent at least 2 billion RUB ($26.5 million) on such payments in the 11 regions that disclosed expenditures, while others financed them through reserve funds.

In some regions, recruitment spending rivals budgets for emergency services, school modernization or support for large families.

Saule Tulegenova, an economic analyst in Astana, told Kontur that directing public money toward recruiting rather than economic development carries long-term risks.

"This is economic cannibalism," she said. "Russia is eating its own human capital."