Russia running out of people willing to fight for money, ex-Aidar commander says

He shared the information on Espreso TV channel.

"Finally, the Russians have almost exhausted their pool of people willing to sell their lives for money," noted Yevhen Dykyi. "Their attempt to increase the payout for human life has failed. They assumed they could recruit the poorest, but even that pool is depleting, and now they simply have to offer more. Essentially, the number of people willing to fight, especially in a war with such high risks, for money is limited. Beyond that, there are those who refuse to fight for any amount. The Russians have hit this limitation, which seems to have come as a clear surprise to them."

According to Yevhen Dykyi, Russia managed to replenish its army effectively for two consecutive years. In the fall of 2022, Russia conducted a forced mobilization, which proved successful. This allowed it to hold the so-called Surovikin line with half a million mobilized troops. For two years, Russia also faced no significant challenges in recruiting soldiers by offering monetary incentives.

"For two years, the Russians have continuously replenished their staggering losses without realizing that their pool of recruits was gradually depleting," emphasized Yevhen Dykyi. "They addressed many of their manpower issues by recruiting large numbers of convicts. However, the supply of convicts is now running low, and for the first time in Russia's recent history, they are beginning to close prisons because there is no one left to incarcerate."

Yevhen Dykyi, former platoon commander of the Aidar battalion, explained that Russia initially focused on recruiting from economically depressed regions, particularly those with ethnic minorities. This approach allowed them to address two objectives simultaneously: waging war against Ukraine and systematically depleting their ethnic minority populations.

“For instance, in Buryatia, finding a man of reproductive age has already become a significant challenge. Many small ethnic groups could face extinction because of this war,” Dykyi noted.

He added that after exhausting these regions, Russia turned to economically depressed areas, offering increasingly higher financial incentives. Finally, recruitment efforts extended to Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and St. Petersburg, but even these resources are now nearly depleted.

The former platoon commander of the Aidar battalion also added that Russia is currently facing a problem of where to get people to replenish their absolutely crazy, unrealistic losses.

• In November, Ukraine gave up a record 725 square kilometers of territory - the largest loss since the positional war started in 2022. Meanwhile, Russian forces took a heavy hit, suffering over 45,000 casualties, with a loss ratio favoring Ukraine at 1 to 5.
• Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the occupying Russian army has lost more than 750,000 troops in the war in Ukraine.