@samuelszuchan: Across Russia, regional governments pay men to sign their first military contract. Saint Petersburg pays about $54,000, Krasnodar about $40,000, and Tatarstan up to $35,000. The federal government adds about $4,800 on top. The regional figure runs from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands, and in 2026 the payments hit record levels. Recruiters get paid too: whoever delivers a recruit now collects a bounty of around $6,000, and regions from Samara to Kemerovo raised theirs this year alone. The Russian outlet IStories reported in May that average monthly spending on recruiter payments had more than doubled in 2026. The Russia analyst Michael Kofman lays out what that buys: more than 400,000 contracted soldiers a year since 2023 without a second mobilization. At least 400,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine, and a British assessment from late May put the number closer to 500,000. Another 600,000 to 800,000 have been seriously wounded. Even so, the army grew, from about 850,000 active personnel before the war to roughly 1.3 million now. What limits the Russian military now is the price of a man, and the regional governments are bidding against each other to set it. They are also bidding against their own arms plants: with unemployment at 2.2% and a shortage of skilled workers, the defense industry is chasing the same people the army is. The military takes 40% of the federal budget, about 8% of national output and roughly double the pre-war share. In dollars that is around $180 billion this year, or $400 billion to $500 billion once you adjust for what a ruble actually buys inside Russia. The analyst Alexander Kolyandr described the result in May: "The army needs men to fight. The arms factories need men to supply them. The result is a labour market so tight that ordinary employers can barely function." Saint Petersburg pays about $54,000 for one signature because the pool of men it bids for, against the factories and every other region in the country, keeps shrinking.

Dana Issayev :

Imagine giving your life to something Walter White earned as a teacher in 1 year and he was considered poor af 😭😭😭

Big_Bro🇷🇼🇺🇬 :

Let's be honest here, deciding to report on Russia, you must have all expectations of reporting false information For one, Russia lost nearly 30k men in Bakhmut alone in a three months siege the majority of these deaths consisted of homosexuals, incarcerated criminals and such other undesirables Active military personnel were brought in later and you could see their actual impact It's a complicated war and unless you are Apti Alaudinov or someone actively in service, I wouldn't easily believe your information That's how it's been designed

Sal :

keep in mind that as a contractor they get less supplies. So in case they get money, they will need to get most of supplies on their own.

pooloolooagain :

This cannot be sustainable.

silence porkus :

anyone in SEA received their Russian recruitment pamphlet? the lowest recruitment bonus at 35,000 USD is roughly 8 years of minimum wage in the capital in the Philippines. the Russo-Ukranian front line is about 5x more dangerous than Manila but you're less likely to get stabbed if you botched My Way at the karaoke.

pero :

sign me up 🥹

Gank hunter 69 :

That sounds sustainable

Peasant11 :

That is an insane number killed, there is no way that is true

🤷 :

Russia Russia

OnE :

A lot of people say that no money can buy life until you live like Russians . I can’t imagine how can you buy a life for money if you know that almost no one can comeback with no big injury

Bravo :

My friend, looks like your exchange rate is way out of real life 😄

azcf :

Russia just misuses its own created poverty. They buy desperate but unfortunately dump people to occupy Ukrainian territories

Эщкерист :

Samara ❤️

rogerk401 :

and most that money goes to commanders in bribe money to keep them away from the frontline l.

kashif :

where to sign

ʀᴇꜱᴘᴀᴡɴ 🌈🇪🇺🇷🇺@⁸¹🍎 :

didn't expect to see my country

makeine271k :

Karmen :

fake propaganda, using western sources which are pure propaganda

Moe Lester :

And how much Ukraine pays their soldiers to die ?

LittleTooArrogant :

Keep shrinking that base. I want to see what complete Russian industrial collapse looks like

MahanaRed :

Why aren't they hiring more mercenaries? China and India could easily supply the manpower

mih :

BS

JK :

❤️❤️❤️

Gravy :

Ukraine kidnaps men off the street, beats their shit in and throws them in the back of a van at least the Russians are there by choice

Karmen :

Your channel started as pro China now all you do is spread anti China and anti Russia propaganda garbage, yet you never talk about Israhell, makes sense who pays you