Russian Army Recruitment Surges: 280,000 New Soldiers Enlisted in 2023
Something surprising has happened in Russia this year. They’ve managed to recruit a whopping 280,000 new soldiers quietly since the beginning of the year. Guess what? Dmitry Medvedev, who used to be the big boss of Russia and now helps with important safety stuff, has some interesting news. He’s telling us that Russia is putting in a lot of effort to do this Russian army recruitment, which will help make their army even stronger!
Medvedev told us about this big increase in new soldiers during his visit to a beautiful place called the Far Eastern Russian Island of Sakhalin. He said,
“The Ministry of Defense told us that 280,000 people have signed up to join the Russian army since January 1.”
These new soldiers come from different groups, like reserves and volunteers.
This Russian army recruitment boom seems to be part of a bigger plan, and it’s happening while the conflict in Ukraine has been going for 19 months now. Even though Russia hasn’t officially said they’re doing another draft, they’re doing a bunch of things to get more people interested in joining their military.
Starting from the springtime, the Russian army has been running a big advertising campaign. They’ve been putting ads all over the internet and on the streets in Russia to get people interested in becoming soldiers. They’re also promising more money to people who want to join the army.
This reminds us of something similar that happened in September last year when Russia changed its mind and announced a partial draft to make up for the soldiers they lost in Ukraine. They ended up recruiting a massive 300,000 men.
It’s important to know that while Medvedev told us these numbers, we haven’t had anyone else check them like AFP. Lots of new soldiers joining Russia’s army means they want to be really, really strong to deal with challenges in the world.
When a lot of new people join a team, it can change who’s the strongest and how everyone works together. Russia is like a big country, and they’re making their army even tougher. Other countries are watching this because they want to know if it could affect how safe the world is and if everyone can be friends.
This big recruitment drive and what it could mean are topics that lots of people are interested in. Military experts and people who make decisions about what countries do are going to keep a close eye on what’s happening. It reminds us that we need to keep watching as things develop because this is a big deal.
