Russia has seen a significant jump in the number of people signing contracts to join the armed forces since last month’s deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow, the defense ministry said on Wednesday.
In a statement, it said more than 100,000 people have signed contracts with the military since the start of the year, including about 16,000 in the past 10 days alone.
“During interviews conducted over the past week at selection points in Russian cities, most candidates indicated the desire to avenge those killed in the tragedy that occurred on March 22, 2024 in the Moscow region as the main motive for concluding a contract,” the ministry said.
At least 144 people were killed in a mass shooting and fire at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in an attack that was claimed by the Islamic State militant group.
Russia has said, however, that the attackers were linked to Ukraine — something Kyiv has repeatedly denied and the United States has dismissed as nonsense.
Russia is relying on a steady stream of new recruits to the armed forces in order to wage the war in Ukraine, now well into its third year.
Meanwhile, Ukraine on Wednesday lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The new mobilization law came into force a day after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed it last year.
It was not immediately clear why Zelenskyy took so long to sign the measure into law. He didn’t make any public comment about it, and officials did not say how many new soldiers the country expected to gain or for which units.
Conscription has been a sensitive matter in Ukraine for many months amid a growing shortage of infantry on top of a severe ammunition shortfall that has handed Russia the battlefield initiative.
The need for a broad mobilization to beef up the number of Ukrainian troops reportedly was one of the areas of disagreement between Zelenskyy and Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the popular commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces whom the president replaced in February.
Russia’s own problems with manpower and planning have so far prevented it from taking full advantage of its edge.
President Vladimir Putin ordered an unpopular draft of 300,000 men in Sep. 2022 but has said there is no need for another compulsory mobilization because the numbers signing voluntary contracts are so strong.
Posters across Russian cities extol the soldiers fighting in Ukraine as patriots and heroes, and many of those signing up are attracted by salaries far higher than they can earn as civilians.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, has been slowly advancing in the past two months after a Ukrainian counteroffensive last year failed to make significant gains.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said last month that Moscow would bolster its military by adding two new armies and 30 new formations by the end of this year.