- Russia has raised recruitment bonuses to $22,000 to attract soldiers amid high numbers of injuries and deaths.
- The new pay package makes Russian military bonuses competitive with the US military's.
- The new bonuses have come as reports show Russia's military is bleeding the country dry.
Russia's army is bleeding, and it's raising its recruitment bonuses to US-military levels to draw in more men.
Russian media reported that new recruits in Moscow would get a new signing bonus of 1.9 million rubles, or about $22,000, if they signed contracts with the Russian defense ministry.
The announcement of the new payment said that, including the monthly salary and other benefits, these soldiers would make about 5.2 million rubles in their first year of service.
The bonus of 1.9 million rubles is nearly double Moscow's initial 1 million rubles, which was valid for people enlisting until November 25 last year.
Moscow's mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, pledged the new bonus via a decree on July 23, Russian media reported.
The new package puts Russia on par with the US Army's Quick Ship Bonus of up to $15,000, awarded to those who report for basic training within 30 days of enlistment for certain military jobs, according to the Army's website.
To be sure, the total amount for the US Army can be a lot higher if combined with other enlistment bonuses, reaching $50,000.
For example, qualified Army reserve recruits may be eligible for up to $20,000 in bonuses.
There's also the Ranger Bonus of up to $20,000, which qualified soldiers can receive after completing certain ranger training and reporting to their first permanent duty station.
With the new pay package, salaries in the Russian military are so competitive that they surpass those in the country's lucrative oil and gas industry.
Bloomberg reported that in January and February, workers in the oil and gas industry earned an average monthly salary of 125,200 rubles, or about $1,460.
Russian soldiers didn't always earn this much. Their salaries have increased vastly since the start of the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 4, 2022, shortly before he started Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that a lieutenant received only 81,200 rubles (now worth about $946) a month, according to an intelligence update from the UK defense ministry in August.
Moscow's military is bleeding it dry
Moscow's new announcement has come as Russia's war with Ukraine stretches well into its third year and the Russian army continues to bleed men and money.
Russia allocated at least a third of its 2024 national budget to defense. It would have to fork out about 6% of its budget —about $26 billion— for its promised payouts to its wounded and dead.
There's no lack of injured or dead soldiers; more than 70,000 Russian soldiers were most likely wounded or killed in Ukraine in May and June alone, the UK's defense ministry said in an update on July 12.
The UK's defense ministry said that, in total, the number of Russian personnel who'd been killed or wounded probably stood at half a million as of May.
A report by The New York Times on June 27 said Russia's military was losing upward of 1,000 men a day in Ukraine in May.
Apart from raising enlistment bonuses, Russia has resorted to a range of tactics to keep its army full, such as raising the conscription age from 27 to 30 and making it possible to call up reservists as old as 70.
In April last year, Putin signed a law allowing conscription notices to be sent to recruits through a digital government portal.
They could be punished if they don't report for duty, whether or not they have an account.
Representatives for the Russian military didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
