Russia is losing a record number of soldiers.
Now Vladimir Putin wants to recruit from Africa.
– I see it as an attempt on the Russian side and I don’t see that it will generate any larger personnel volumes, former lieutenant colonel Jörgen Elfving.
Recently, it has been intensively reported how North Korean soldiers have been recruited by Russia to participate in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Now the UK Ministry of Defense has published a clip of X which refers to Ukraine’s security service, which states that the Kremlin now wants to recruit soldiers from central Africa. According to the Ukrainian security service, this comes as Russia suffers record losses in the field.
– This is not the first time there has been information that the Russian side is trying to recruit personnel from different parts of the world. In 2022, there were reports of attempts to recruit personnel from Syria that led nowhere. Then they recruited Indians and North Koreans, says former lieutenant colonel Jörgen Elfving.
Want to recruit from Africa
Ukraine’s intelligence service has previously warned that Russia was trying to recruit soldiers in Africa. Then, among others, from Rwanda, Burundi, Congo and Uganda. Money has then been offered for people to sign contracts, Russian passports for the soldier and his family members and a monthly salary for fighting. Now Ukraine’s security service and Britain’s Ministry of Defense are warning of the same thing.
– This in itself is not sensational, I would consider it a further attempt to get personnel to the Russian armed forces. Then there is the question of what volumes are involved and what kind of quality the staff you recruit is. For example, do they have a military background or similar? What age status and health status do they have?, says Jörgen Elfving.
Russia does not want to see a new mobilization
Jörgen Elfving does not believe in any large number of soldiers joining the Russian army – but more like an attempt by Russia. According to the Ukrainian security service, this is done to avoid a mobilization of the Russian population.
– The Russian political leadership, and then primarily the president, probably has no desire to carry out a further mobilization in view of the experiences from the one in September 2022, which partly did not work because of the mobilization system because it was lying fallow, but also because of the reactions in Russian society. There were a number who left the country to avoid being drafted, he says.
What could a new mobilization look like?
– It is something you want to avoid. This has also meant that the financial compensation for those who allow themselves to be contracted has been significantly increased. It is both a question of a lump sum but also the monthly compensation. My assessment is that the way to go is to try to continue to attract people to contract employment in exchange for fairly good financial incentives.