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The governor of Russia’s Ryazan region asked companies to help recruit soldiers.
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He directed local companies with at least 150 employees to submit the names of employees contracted for services.
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Most of Russia’s military conscripts for the war in Ukraine are contract soldiers.
Russia’s governor has ordered the region’s major companies to put employees on a list of “candidates” for military service, in a rare push for corporate participation in the draft.
The order was signed by Pavel Markov, governor of the Ryazan region, 130 miles southeast of Moscow — Companies with 150 or more employees are instructed to select employees by September 20.
The employees will be candidates for “contract military service” with the Russian military, the notice said. In Russia, most conscription for the Ukrainian war is through contractual military service and is voluntary.
Russian independent media and open-source intelligence organizations reported on the new March 20 legislation this week.
The order targets all business entities “regardless of their form of ownership,” stating that both private and state-owned organizations must comply with the requirements.
According to Markov’s order, businesses and institutions with 150 to 300 employees must submit two candidate employees, while those with 300 to 500 employees must nominate three. Companies and entities with 500 or more employees must submit five names.
Markov’s order did not specify penalties for failing to submit quotas on time. His directive cited two decrees signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022 that put the country on high alert in the event of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Local Ryazan law states that businesses that obstruct these decrees may be fined up to 1 million rubles (approximately $12,300).
The candidacy comes at a time when Russia has been aggressively pushing for new ways to find new troops while suffering heavy losses in Ukraine, offering huge signing bonuses to its citizens and increasingly relying on informal or covert overseas recruitment networks.
Moscow says more than 420,000 people signed military contracts last year. But according to repeated reports, recruitment rates are declining in major cities, where residents are now more wary of joining brutal conflicts.
The military focus could prove costly for Russia’s already struggling economy. For example, the country is facing a labor shortage that officials warn could reach 11 million by 2030.
Russia hopes to eventually expand the size of its active-duty troops to 1.5 million, including logistics and civilian personnel, bringing the total strength to 2.38 million. In 2025, its defense spending will account for about 6.3% of GDP.
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