Putin signs law allowing some Russian recruits to write off bad debts worth up to almost $100K as combat losses mount in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing debt forgiveness for certain troops who sign up to fight in Ukraine.

Putin on Saturday signed off on legislation that, from December 1, allows recruits who sign a minimum one-year contract to fight in the war forgiveness of up to 10 million rubles of debt arrears (around $96,000), Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

The legislation applies where debt collection proceedings were opened before December 1, 2024, the report says.

Russia’s State Duma approved the bill earlier this week.

The new law, which also extends to the spouses of recruits, comes amid mounting Russian combat losses in Ukraine.

Responding to the news on X, Carl Bildt, cochair of the European Council on Foreign Relations Council and a former prime minister of Sweden, said that the move showed Russia’s attempts to replenish its losses were evidently becoming “more and more difficult.”

“In addition to huge lump sum of money offered there is now also debt write off not only for those enrolling but also for their families. It tells,” he wrote.

As Bildt alluded to, it would not be the first time Russia has attempted to use financial incentives to increase its troop numbers.

In July, Russia began offering bonuses of $22,000 to military recruits in Moscow.

The UK’s Chief of Defence Staff, Tony Radakin, said earlier this month that Russia had suffered a daily average of more than 1,500 killed or injured troops in October, its worth month of the conflict so far.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in late October that Russian forces had suffered more than 600,000 wounded or killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In a post on X on Saturday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense shared figures from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that put Russian combat losses since the start of the war at more than 729,000.

Russian forces were somewhat bolstered by the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops in October.

The latest legislation follows President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with US-provided long-range missiles.

The US’s major policy shift comes as Biden scrambles to provide Ukraine with increased support ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

Ukraine also reportedly fired British-made long-range Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time this week.