On July 28 (local time), Russian Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that nearly 200,000 people have joined the Russian Armed Forces under contract service in the first 6 months of 2026.
According to TASS news agency, the information was announced by Mr. Medvedev at a meeting of the Inter-sectoral Committee of the Russian Security Council on the selection and supplementation of military personnel to serve under contract for the armed forces.
In addition, more than 16,000 Russian citizens also joined volunteer units and were deployed to the area where the special military operation took place.
According to Russian officials, the expansion of military personnel serving under contract continues to be one of the focuses to maintain the army's combat readiness in the context of the conflict in Ukraine showing no signs of cooling down.
Unlike the mandatory military service regime, the form of service under contract is based on the voluntary participation of participants. Military personnel are entitled to salaries, allowances and many welfare regimes according to the regulations of the Russian army.
In recent years, Moscow has also implemented many policies to attract people to register for service under this category, including financial support and incentives for military personnel and their families.
Russian officials have repeatedly emphasized that increasing the proportion of military personnel serving under contract will help improve the professionalism of the armed forces, while reducing dependence on large-scale mobilization campaigns. This is also considered one of the important orientations in the process of modernizing the Russian army.
Mr. Medvedev did not disclose details of the number of new soldiers to be assigned to which units or the deployment time after completing the training process. However, according to a statement from Russia, the contracted military force will continue to play a core role in the country's military missions.
In the context of the conflict in Ukraine lasting more than 4 years, troop recruitment and force addition are still identified by Moscow as one of the priorities to maintain combat capability and meet the requirements of deploying forces on the ground.
