MOSCOW, Jul. 12 (RT) - Nearly 200,000 people have enlisted in the Russian army in 2024, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. The average recruitment rate is “about 1,000 people per day,” the MOD wrote on Telegram on Thursday. Russia has launched a wide-scale recruitment campaign after Moscow began its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

Last month, President Vladimir Putin said that around 700,000 troops were deployed in Ukraine at the moment.

In recent months, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and Western media have claimed Russia is planning a second wave of mobilization. The first wave took place in September 2022, when Russia announced plans to call up 300,000 additional soldiers. Speaking at an event in St. Petersburg last month, Putin said that there was no need for additional mobilization, apart from the regular draft.

The Ukrainian army, meanwhile, has been struggling to replenish its ranks after the failed 2023 counteroffensive and intense fighting in the Donbass this year. In April, Ukraine lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25, gave more powers to enlistment officers and increased penalties for draft dodgers. Ukrainian officials complained that the delays in the deliveries of Western weapons have led to more casualties.

According to Putin, the Russian forces have liberated 47 settlements and over 880 square kilometers of land since the beginning of the year, “gradually pushing the enemy out of Donbass.”

Photo from Russian Defense Ministry