Join Ukraine analysts have broken down Russia’s spending on new recruits and calculated the average one-off payment for signing a military contract. Read more in an article for Ekonomichna Pravda.

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In September, Russia recruited around 1,000 contract soldiers a day, spending the equivalent of approximately UAH 1.2 billion on one-off enlistment bonuses alone.

The figures were reported by the NGO Join Ukraine.

“The average one-off payment for signing a contract was 2.2–2.3 million rubles, or approximately UAH 1.2 million per recruit. This means Russia was spending around UAH 1.2 billion a day on one-off payments alone,” Join Ukraine analysts estimated.

The payment consists of two parts: a regional bonus of 1.8–1.9 million rubles (approximately UAH 1 million) and a federal payment of 400,000 rubles (approximately UAH 215,000). The regional bonus varies by region, so the amounts received by recruits differ across Russia.

The largest regional bonuses are offered in Chukotka and Magadan Oblast, where they amount to 3.6 million rubles (approximately UAH 1.9 million), and in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, where the bonus is 3.55 million rubles (approximately UAH 1.85 million).

By contrast, in Karelia, Chechnya, Udmurtia, Kirov Oblast and Penza Oblast, the regional payment is just 400,000 rubles (approximately UAH 208,000).

However, according to Andrii Sukharina, head of the analytics team at Join Ukraine, Russian contract soldiers face numerous demands for unofficial payments once they arrive at their units.

For example, to avoid being sent on an assault mission, a soldier may have to pay their commander 200,000–300,000 rubles (approximately UAH 105,000–160,000). Even then, the payment only buys a temporary reprieve — usually for a week or two.

In addition, soldiers are expected to contribute every month to a so-called obshchak, a shared fund for the unit’s needs, including equipment repairs, fuel, food and fortifying positions. According to Sukharina’s estimates, these contributions can amount to another 20,000–30,000 rubles a month.

As a result, a substantial share of the money soldiers earn is spent directly on the costs of serving and on attempts to avoid being sent on dangerous combat missions.

“Russian contract soldiers are promised millions, but once they sign a contract, they enter a system where they have to pay to survive. The money they went to war for quickly disappears, and they find themselves in a situation where they have to pay their own commanders just to stay alive,” Sukharina says.

Join Ukraine also notes that in recent months, Russian military losses have matched or exceeded the number of new recruits.

“This means Russia has to spend substantial sums to recruit contract soldiers, yet even high payments are not enough to replenish its army,” the organization said.