Russian Recruits Face Short Combat Lifespans in Ukraine

Russian soldiers signed to one-year contracts in Ukraine are reported to survive an average of 20 to 35 minutes once they reach the front lines. The same accounts state that the interval from arrival at training grounds to death in combat now ranges from 10 days to three weeks.

The conflict has passed the four-and-a-half-year mark. Officials said they recruited more than 420,000 new contract soldiers in 2025, a figure state media later described as 30 percent lower this year.

Military bloggers cited in the reports say Russia continues to sign 800 to 1,000 voluntary contract soldiers each day. Many receive only a few days of training before deployment. Average monthly casualties are stated to exceed 30,000. Western estimates place total Russian losses above one million since February 2022, producing a reported ratio of eight Russian casualties for every Ukrainian casualty.

Sign-up bonuses of up to $80,000 and debt relief of up to $140,000 are being offered. The average monthly salary in Russia is around $1,000.

Ukraine has used drones to strike targets inside Russia, including a June attack on Moscow’s largest oil refinery. Ukrainian drones have cut Russian refining capacity by about 700,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters estimates. More than half of Russia’s regions now ration fuel.

Russia allocates more than half its state budget to the military. One Russian military blogger accused commanders of torturing their own soldiers and warned of possible mutiny. A separate academic assessment concluded that internal revolt remains unlikely and that escalation outside Russia is the more probable response.