Vladimir Putin has approved a new decree doubling bonuses for volunteers signing up to fight in Ukraine.
The move comes as new estimates last month claimed Russia lost over half a million men since the start of the war two years ago.
The increased upfront payments to new soldiers will likely drive up recruitment but is likely to add further pressure to an already struggling economy.
Recruits will receive 400,000 rubles (£3,622) when they sign a contract with the Russian Army. The decree also requires regional authorities to match the payment.
Under the updated rules, soldiers will receive up to 3.25 million rubles (£29,432) in their first year of service.
The military also pays additional wages depending on participation in offensives and destroying enemy equipment.
But the updated bonuses are expected to leave Putin facing a major socio-economic headache because of the growing gap between the average wage in Russia and military pay – which is now three times larger.
Despite agreement among most Western intelligence agencies on the extent of Russian losses in Ukraine, Moscow has never confirmed the exact death toll.
Putin has continued to ignore appeals to put an end to the war and has instead repeatedly warned Russia is prepared to escalate should its security come into question.
Earlier this week, Moscow threatened to resume production of previously banned weapons if the United States pushed ahead with plans to deploy long-range precision weapons to Germany.
Speaking at a naval parade in St Petersburg, Putin vowed “mirror measures” after Washington announced that it would start deploying the weapons in 2026.
The US maintained the move would affirm its commitment to NATO and European defence following Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Russian President said: “If the US implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the previously imposed unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range strike weapons, including increasing the capability of the coastal forces of our navy.”
Both Washington and Moscow have in recent weeks signalled readiness to deploy intermediate-range ground-based weapons that were banned for decades under a 1987 US-Soviet treaty.
Washington pulled out of the agreement in 2019, accusing Moscow of conducting missile tests that violated it.
