Russia’s Manpower Crisis Deepens as the Kremlin Tightens Control Online

Russia is struggling to fill its military ranks more than four years into the war in Ukraine, and the Kremlin is responding with unusually large financial incentives for new recruits. Ads on highways and social media promise bonuses of up to $80,000, debt forgiveness of as much as $140,000, and even a faster path to citizenship for migrants, while portraying enlistment as a route to becoming a “hero.”

Despite those efforts, CNN reported that recruitment fell 20% in the first quarter of this year compared with 2025, with signs the decline is continuing. An International Institute for Strategic Studies report said the incentives may no longer be working effectively and that Russia has begun losing more soldiers than it can recruit. The strain has pushed President Vladimir Putin’s government to more desperate measures, including sending tens of thousands of prisoners to the front, reinforcing forces with three separate waves of North Korean troops, and encouraging migrants to join up.

Western intelligence estimates cited in the article put Russian military deaths at nearly 500,000, while hundreds of thousands more Russians have left the country to avoid mobilization. The shortage is also hurting the Russian economy, which is facing a severe labor deficit that is adding to inflation.

At the same time, the Kremlin is tightening its grip on the internet. Reuters reported that more Russians are using technical workarounds to evade state surveillance after authorities restricted access to WhatsApp, Telegram and VPN services and pushed a government-controlled messaging app called Max. Since 2025, mobile carriers have been required to preinstall Max on all new phones sold in Russia, and public-sector workers, teachers and students must use it. One 41-year-old woman, Irina, told Reuters she keeps the monitored app on one phone and uses another for freer communication, saying the arrangement is a “huge headache” but feels safer. In March alone, users downloaded the five most popular VPN services 9.2 million times, and the restrictions have drawn sharp criticism inside Russia, including from bloggers and business leaders.