Putin on mission to recruit 140,000 troops after 'tens of thousands' killed in Ukraine

The Russian president wants to expand his military force to more than 2 million fighters

Russian soldiers on a T-72 B3 battle tank celebrate coming first in the finals of the Tank Biathlon 2022, at the Alabino training and tactical complex outside Moscow. EPA

Russia has lost “tens of thousands” of soldiers in Ukraine and Moscow is scrambling to recruit more, the British army has said.

As the war drags into its seventh month, the Kremlin remains tight-lipped on casualty numbers after months of faltering plans.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (Mod) has said it is not yet clear how Russia will achieve its goal of recruiting nearly 140,000 additional personnel to its armed forces.

President Vladimir Putin last week signed a decree to increase the size of the army from 1.9 million to 2.04 million.

“The government was instructed to provide funding to achieve this,” the MoD wrote on Twitter.

“It remains unclear whether Russia will attempt to fill this increased allocation from recruiting more volunteer ‘contract’ soldiers, or from increasing the annual targets for the conscription draft.

“In any case, under the legislation currently in place, the decree is unlikely to make substantive progress towards increasing Russia’s combat power in Ukraine.

“This is because Russia has lost tens of thousands of troops; very few new contract servicemen are being recruited; and conscripts are technically not obliged to serve outside of Russian territory.”

Mr Putin’s push to attract more Russians to the army comes as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned the war in Ukraine “could last years”.

“We need to be prepared for the possibility that the war could last for years,” she told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday.

She left the door open for the potential for Ukraine to still need donations of heavy weapons by next summer.

“Ukraine is defending our freedom, security architecture too and we support Ukraine financially and militarily for as long as necessary,” she added.

Ms Baerbock also defended Ukraine’s claim to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed eight years ago.

“Crimea is also part of Ukraine,” Ms Baerbock said. “The world never recognised the illegal annexation of 2014.”

Analysts have debated whether Kyiv would be willing to give up the Black Sea territory and other regions under Russian control in a possible peace deal with Moscow.

But President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Crimea belongs to Ukraine. President Putin has sent scores of armoured vehicles to the strategic territory after a spate of attacks in recent weeks. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility.

Meanwhile the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south-eastern Ukraine” remains very risky, dangerous,” Mr Zelenskyy said.

Two power units were reconnected to the country’s energy grid following an power cut, but the president said the situation is dicey.

The plant is working “despite provocations by occupying Russian forces,” state-owned operator Energoatom said.

In his nightly video address, Mr Zelenskyy called on Russia to allow representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into the site at the “soonest” possible time to help prevent further incidents.

In recent days several strikes were reported near the plant, the largest of its kind in Europe.

As the war threatens to heave its way into the winter, inflicting further misery on millions of internally displaced Ukrainians, as well as refugees who have fled abroad, musicians are using their skills to try to keep the country in focus.

Ed Sheeran was joined on stage by Ukrainian band Antytila during a concert in Poland on Saturday night. The rock group, fronted by lead singer Taras Topolia, made a surprise appearance at the PGE Narodowy venue in Warsaw for the live debut of their collaborative track with the British star.

Earlier this year, they teamed up to record a new version of Mr Sheeran's 2step to raise money for Music Saves UA, a non-profit fundraising project providing humanitarian aid for people in Ukraine.

Over the next 12 months, worldwide royalties from YouTube streams of the official video, and Warner Music's proceeds from the streams, will be donated to the project.

The band posted a string of photos for his fans on Twitter, including one of them holding up the Ukrainian flag.

“This gig was really important for us and for Ukraine Ed Sheeran, friend!” the band wrote.

Mr Sheeran wrote on Twitter: “Warsaw! What a night!”

Mr Topolia also shared a selfie with Mr Sheeran on Twitter and wrote simply: “Finally we met.”

Members of Antytila are serving on the front line of the war, with Mr Topolia working as a medic.

In May, he explained the meaning behind the remix to the BBC, saying: “It is a simple but very dramatic story.

“It is not just only my story, it is the story of millions of Ukrainian people, whose peaceful life was interrupted by war.”

Ukraine war in pictures