December 6, 2025: Russian leaders know that if a lot of men from Russia’s major cities, particularly Moscow and St. Petersburg, were in the army and killed or disabled in Ukraine, the war would rapidly become very unpopular and that could lead to unrest. The Russian solution for this was to obtain soldiers who lived in remote areas, especially those living in 26 national republics. Only 82 percent of Russians are ethnic Slavic Russians. The other 18 percent are where Russia obtained most of the troops sent to Ukraine during the first two years of the war. Men in these minority communities were offered large amounts of money, often $20,000 or more to join. Larger sums were paid to their families if they were killed in Ukraine. All this cash coming into these small rural communities revolutionized lifestyles. People could upgrade their housing, clothing and buy a car or pickup truck. Many families purchased more elaborate headstones for the lost son, with a picture of him etched into the stone. These are very

The people in these peoples noted that their cemeteries were filling up with these expensive headstones and that caused some unrest. This was especially true when it was discovered, via the internet or social media, that few young men from the major cities were dying. It then became clear that the government was obtaining most of its soldiers for Ukraine from the rural areas, while the wealthier families in the big cities were spared the risks of fighting in Ukraine.

Generally, the government in Moscow doesn’t care how the people in the rural areas felt about the war, or anything else. But at the same time these protests began appearing, the military was forced to start recruiting men from the cities to keep the war in Ukraine going. While over 15,000 North Koreans and more than twenty thousand Cubans and other foreigners were recruited with large signing bonuses, it wasn’t enough. It also brought a growing number of complaints from the families about their sons not getting paid and families of dead soldiers not receiving the promised death benefits.

Over three years of fighting in Ukraine have left Russia with few sources of new recruits for the army. In addition, its combat losses are over a million killed, severely wounded, captured or deserters. At least as many military age men have fled Russia to avoid military service and the high probability of being sent to Ukraine. Worse, Russia has recently stopped paying enlistment bonuses and family death benefits because it apparently has run out of money.

Although Russia has a population four times that of Ukraine, declining birth rates since the 1980s have reduced the number of military age men even more. Ukraine has similar problems but to less of an extent. After all, Russia was the invader and the Ukrainians were defending their homeland with lots of material assistance from Western Europe and the United States. The only allies Russia has are Iran and North Korea. China will help Russia overcome economic sanctions, for a price. In practical terms, Russia is on its own and can no longer depend on Russian male civilians to make themselves available for military service. Russia instead entices a growing number of foreign workers in Russia, as well non-Slavic minorities, into enlisting for the money. There is also a critical shortage of junior officers and sergeants to train new recruits. As a result, Russian soldiers currently sent to Ukraine are poorly trained and well aware of how dangerous it is for Russian soldiers in Ukraine. That’s because Russia was t

Among the many costs of the war for Russia, soured relations with their few allies can be added to the list.