Russian Army Struggles To Recruit New Soldiers: 'The Shortage Is Serious'

Russia is unable to recruit enough service members to replace their losses in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Russian army, officially known as the Russian Ground Forces, cannot hire enough contractors to "substitute" and "compensate" for forces that have been "eliminated" by the Ukrainian military, Ukraine's Secret Service (SBU) said in a statement.

"The shortage is serious. Nobody wants to enlist," a member of the Russian National Guard from the Krasnodar region told a contract soldier in an alleged text conversation obtained by the SBU.

"I have 33 people in the battalion [with an average capacity of 500 servicemen]," the unidentified woman from the National Guard wrote.

In response, the unnamed contract soldier, who is operating in Ukraine's Kherson region, complained that Russian forces were suffering "significant" losses, according to the SBU.

"The 34th Karachaevsk Mechanized Battalion was completely destroyed. 80% of personnel [were] eliminated. They left their positions and told the commanders to go f--k themselves," the soldier claimed.

In addition, what is understood to be the 150 Rifle Division has suffered a 60% casualty rate, while the 102nd Division was "completely destroyed" after attempting to take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, according to the woman.

"And who [is] going to replace them? One wonders," the National Guard member allegedly wrote.

Russia lost around 24,200 personnel between Feb. 24, when it started its invasion of Ukraine, and Tuesday, Ukraine's Ministry of Defence claimed in its most recent Russian casualties report.

While the last official death toll released by Russia in late March claimed that around 1,351 of the country's soldiers had been killed in combat at that point in the war, a supposed Russian soldier said the number was close to 26,000 by the last week of April.

"So many of our boys have been f-----g killed, for f--k’s sake. One thing is what they say officially, but I’ll tell you: 25,900 killed. This is during the f--king 2 months," the soldier said in a phone call that was allegedly intercepted by the SBU and shared in the last week of April.

Conscripts reportedly make up a fourth of all Russian soldiers in the country's Armed Forces, and around 134,500 were expected to be enlisted as part of this year's spring draft.

They are paid 3,000 rubles ($46) a month, while their regularized counterparts have a monthly salary of 62,000 rubles ($950), according to reports.