The Moscow city government announced Tuesday that it will offer newly enlisted contract soldiers an extra one-time payment of 1.9 million rubles ($21,783) as Russia continues to face an acute manpower shortage in the war on Ukraine.
Moscow’s mayor’s office said all local and national-level support measures previously introduced for soldiers and their families would remain unchanged — including monthly salaries, preferential loans and a variety of other social benefits.
“Therefore, the total amount of payments for a contract soldier… will amount to over 5.2 million rubles ($59,616) for the first year of service,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
Around 120,000 Russian soldiers are estimated to have been killed since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to an investigation by independent media published earlier this month. Facing a diminished pool of potential troops, the Kremlin has steadily increased military payments in a bid to entice new recruits.
The minimum monthly salary for contract soldiers in Russia currently stands at 210,000 rubles ($2,407) — far exceeding the average income of 73,000 rubles ($837) per month. These lucrative payments can be especially appealing to working-class men in economically distressed communities.
Regional governments also offer various bonuses and other incentives to new recruits, such as free childcare and travel for soldiers’ families.
Although Russia conscripted some 300,000 reservists in September 2022, the Kremlin has sought to avoid a full-scale mobilization campaign given the unpopularity of such a move.