Russia reportedly aims to recruit 400,000 soldiers this year

Russia aims to contract 400,000 new soldiers this year to strengthen its forces that have suffered major losses in the war in Ukraine, Britain's Defence Ministry said in an up-to-date intelligence report.

Russian troops in Ukraine are made up of contract soldiers and some militias, which were mobilised by the end of 2022, according to British intelligence.

The conscripted soldiers, who are not legally involved in war, are pressured to register as contract soldiers and thus be sent to the front lines.

About 150,000 soldiers between the ages of 18 and 30 are scheduled to be recruited this spring. They will serve for 12 months in all kinds of Russian armed forces”, British intelligence said.

On April 3rd, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied rumours of planning additional mobilizations in Russia.

Russia began its full - scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to some documents stemming from American intelligence in December last year, 315,000 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

Russia is believed to have lost thousands of tanks and infantry combat vehicles.

American experts estimate last August that 75,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, up from 200,000, as long as they were the original fighting force.

Ukraine is completely dependent on weapons supplies from the US and other Western allies to continue the fight against Russia. / REL/