Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that 185,000 recruits had joined the Russian military as professional contractors since the start of the year, as Moscow seeks to bolster forces that have suffered heavy casualties in Ukraine, Reuters reported. He also said that nearly 10,000 recruits had joined the regular army in the past week alone, following a brief uprising by Wagner’s mercenary group.

Last year, Russia announced plans to increase its armed forces by more than 30 percent to 1.5 million soldiers. This is an ambitious task, hampered by the high but undisclosed losses of the war.

Posters calling for contract soldiers are plastered in Russian cities, and television commercials often broadcast the same message.

“According to the Ministry of Defense, from January 1 to July 4, more than 185,000 people were accepted into the ranks of the Armed Forces, of which about 109,000 are in reserve, as well as other categories of citizens who are conscripted into the army. according to the contract,” Medvedev said.

In a video posted on Telegram, he said nearly 10,000 recruits had joined in the past week after a short-lived uprising by Wagner’s mercenary group, whose fighters had the option of enlisting as regular soldiers.

“I would like to note separately that the attempted armed insurrection did not change the attitude of the citizens towards signing contracts in the area of ​​the SVO”, said Medvedev, referring to the conflict in Ukraine.

Last September, President Vladimir Putin ordered the “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists, prompting hundreds of thousands more to flee Russia to avoid deployment. Putin said that further mobilization was not necessary.

Medvedev, who was appointed earlier this year to oversee Russia’s domestic military production, said the factories were operating around the clock to supply the Russian army in Ukraine.

Medvedev wants the assets of “criminals” to be confiscated and handed over to the army

In comments on Tuesday, he suggested that assets seized from criminals, including speed boats and cars, should also be given to the military.

According to him, the prosecutor’s office, the FSB and other agencies should cooperate with the Ministry of Defense in order to “transfer such equipment to our troops as soon as possible.”

Wagner, split in two after the failure of Prigozhin’s uprising

The fate of the Wagner group, which was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2014, remains unknown after the expulsion of its leader, but most analysts and veterans believe that it will continue its activities, only to split into two parts, reports Meduza.

In fact, it was even suggested by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech on Monday night, two days after a military uprising that some analysts called the biggest challenge to his power in the more than 20 years since he has ruled Russia.

Thanking the Wagner PMC mercenaries, who “made the only correct decision – not to go down the path of fratricidal bloodshed,” Putin said that they would have the “opportunity to continue serving Russia by concluding a contract with the Ministry of Defense or with other power structures.” agencies, or return to their relatives and friends”

“Whoever wants to can go to Belarus,” he added in his speech, in which he did not mention his former associate Prigozhin.

Moreover, the split in Wagner’s group seems to have already begun.

Of the 8,000 mercenaries who were considered ready to go to Moscow during the uprising, “only a thousand” decided to follow Prigozhin to Belarus, Meduza’s source in the Moscow Defense Ministry said.