KYIV – Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to recruit 300,000 new troops in September as part of a broader effort to add half a million personnel to Russia’s armed forces by 2027, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed.
Speaking to journalists at his office in Kyiv on Sunday, Zelenskyy said the recruitment drive would begin after Russia’s parliamentary elections in September.
According to Zelenskyy, Moscow plans to recruit 500,000 additional troops by 2027, with 300,000 of them to be enlisted during the September campaign.
Recruitment reportedly focused on remote regions
Zelenskyy said Russia would seek to recruit the new personnel primarily from remote regions of the country.
He claimed Moscow was avoiding large cities in an effort to keep the mobilisation campaign out of the spotlight and limit public attention.
Russia is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections from September 18 to 20, according to the Ukrainian president.
Zelenskyy predicts heavy Russian losses
Zelenskyy also questioned whether Russia would be able to sustain such a large recruitment drive.
He claimed that the additional troops would not significantly improve Russia’s position on the battlefield and predicted that Russian forces would suffer heavy casualties in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has not, in the information provided, publicly confirmed Zelenskyy’s claim about the planned September recruitment of 300,000 troops.
War enters fifth year
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 under Putin’s orders, following years of tensions over Ukraine’s territorial status, the implementation of the Minsk agreements and Kyiv’s pursuit of NATO membership.
The war has continued into its fifth year, with both sides sustaining significant military and economic costs.
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