Russia has already conscripted almost one million Russians to fight in Ukraine, in addition, approximately 900,000 have left Russia to avoid the draft. All these are young working age people, something that Russia is short of. The problem will soon get worse:
Russia’s leadership finds itself in a peculiar dilemma – it lacks manpower to protect its borders and continue the fight in the Donbas, but it also needs to plug labour gaps if it is to sustain its war economy.
Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to enlist 133,000 young men for mandatory military service this fall and winter, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Russia plans to boost defense spending to 13.2 trillion rubles ($142 billion) in 2025 from 10.4 trillion rubles projected for this year, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing draft budget proposals it had seen.