By late 2026, Kremlin planns to recruit over 400,000 contract soldiers to increase its contingent in Ukraine to 800,000 - Syrskyi

By the end of 2026, the aggressor country of russia planned to recruit more than 400,000 contract soldiers to increase its contingent in Ukraine to 800,000 military personnel. This was announced by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, on Facebook, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Syrskyi said that during a meeting with the Chief of the Defense Staff of the Armed Forces of the Netherlands, General Onno Eichelsheim, he told him about the operational-strategic situation on the front.

"Despite significant losses in personnel and equipment, the russian aggressor does not refuse to continue offensive actions. By the end of the year, the Kremlin planned to recruit more than 400,000 contract soldiers to increase its contingent in Ukraine to 800,000 servicemen. Therefore, we have no other choice but to continue the fight and destroy the enemy," he noted.

Syrskyi informed his Dutch colleague about the priority needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to repel the russian invasion, primarily air defense systems and missile weapons of various types.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on March 2, Syrskyi reported that the total losses of the russian invaders over the three winter months amounted to about 92,850 servicemen killed and wounded, or 1,031 people per day; during the winter, the Armed Forces of Ukraine eliminated more enemy soldiers than the enemy recruited into its ranks.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reported that in 2025 russia lost 480,000 soldiers who were wounded or killed, occupying an additional 0.7% of the territory of Ukraine. In January 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that 600,000 russian soldiers were fighting on the territory of Ukraine, and 880,000 soldiers in the Ukrainian army.