Russian Defence Ministry exaggerates number of new contract servicemen by one and half times

Russian opposition journalists analysing the data on one-off payments concluded that the Russian Ministry of Defence overstates the number of contract soldiers by one and a half times: 640,000 instead of the real 426,000.

According to Ukrinform, this is stated in a joint investigation by Vazhnye Istori and the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT).

According to data on federal budget expenditures, from autumn 2022 to April 2024, about 426,000 Russians received a one-time payment for signing a contract (195,000 rubles at the time). The Ministry of Defence announced a figure 214,000 more - according to the ministry, 640 thousand people had joined the contract service as of the same date.

The unreliability of the data provided by the Russian military department is confirmed by other observations. In particular, some assault units have appeared at the front, consisting of wounded soldiers who are sent on crutches and with Ilizarov devices. This would not have happened with a sufficient number of recruits, analysts say.

As reported, the day before, the State Duma of the Russian Federation rejected a draft law on the postponement of mobilisation for parents with many children.