There are about 620,000 Russian troops in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
This was reported by Vadym Skibitskyy, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
‘If we are talking about the ground component, it is about 620,000, with more than 200,000 being assault units that are involved in hostilities and are on the front line. In addition, there are 35,000 Rosgvardia servicemen who support the occupation authorities and guard the most important facilities in the temporarily occupied territories,’ Skibitskyy said.
He said that Russia plans to increase the number of so-called ‘special forces’ in its occupation forces.
‘By 2025, according to Russian plans, approximately 30% of those people who allegedly voluntarily join the army will be those who are under investigation, in prison or serving a suspended sentence. And this problem is already being faced by the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces - what to do with these people, how to work with them. In 2024, there were 15% of such a contingent - they are called ‘special forces’ - and now there will be 30%,’ the DIU representative said.
According to intelligence, in 2025, Moscow intends to recruit more than 340,000 contractors to the ranks of the Russian occupation army.
‘If we talk about the plans, it is 343,000 servicemen, we are talking about contract recruitment. But from the experience of 2024, we know that these plans are changing - for the better. For example, last year, the goal was to recruit about 375-380 thousand, then the plans changed to 430 thousand, and as a result, they recruited 440 thousand servicemen under contract. It should be understood that almost 80% of those recruited under the contract are used to replenish combat losses,’ Skibitskyy explained.
As reported, according to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Russia has documented plans to occupy the whole of Ukraine or completely control it.