Russia’s plan to replenish its occupation forces in Ukraine has “stalled,” particularly in some of the country’s poorest and most remote regions, including the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), according to the Ukrainian military’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR).
Citing internal documents from Russia’s Ministry of Defense, HUR reported that recruitment targets are not being met due to insufficient regional payments and a lack of cooperation from local authorities tasked with supporting the Kremlin’s contract soldier campaign.
According to the intelligence assessment, recruitment centers in Yakutia are falling short by about 40% of Moscow’s established quotas. The shortfall underscores mounting discontent among residents and growing fatigue from the war, now entering its fourth year.
The HUR report said another major factor behind the recruitment crisis is high casualty rates among local populations – particularly among indigenous ethnic groups such as the Yakuts, Evenki, and Evens, who increasingly refuse to fight and die for Moscow’s interests.
A similar pattern, the agency added, is being observed across other Far Eastern regions of Russia, where motivation to sign military contracts remains extremely low, despite state propaganda and promises of financial incentives.
Ukraine’s intelligence agency reminded Russian soldiers that they still have a chance to save their lives:
“Every Russian serviceman who does not want to die in ‘meat assaults’ can choose life,” the statement said, referring to Russia’s repeated use of costly frontal assaults. “To do so, they can contact the ‘I Want to Live’ project via its Telegram bot.”
The “I Want to Live” initiative, launched by Ukraine, provides instructions and guarantees for Russian soldiers seeking to surrender safely to Ukrainian forces.
Earlier this month Kyiv Post reported that Ukraine’s state project “I Want to Live” has released what it says are official Russian military loss statistics for the first eight months of 2025.
According to the obtained data, Russia lost 281,550 personnel between January and August, including those killed, wounded, and missing in action. The report describes the scale of casualties as comparable to Soviet losses in major World War II offensives.
Out of the total, 86,744 Russian soldiers were killed, including 1,583 officers and 8,633 convicts recruited from prisons. Another 33,966 were listed as missing, while 158,529 were wounded, and 2,311 were captured by Ukrainian forces.
Equipment losses were equally severe: 13,145 units destroyed beyond repair, and 48,458 more damaged but potentially restorable. On average, Russia lost 35,000 soldiers and 7,700 pieces of equipment every month, including 1,643 irrecoverably destroyed.
“Every day, the Russian army loses an average of one battalion in killed and missing personnel – 496 people,” the report said, adding that seven full brigades are effectively wiped out every month.
The data reveal a critical failure in battlefield medical evacuation: for every soldier killed, only 1.3 are reported wounded – a ratio far worse than standard military averages. This points to the lack of tactical medicine training and the tendency of Russian units to abandon the wounded on the battlefield, according to the project.