Since January 1, 2023, more than 117 thousand people have been recruited into the Armed Forces (AF) of the Russian Federation as part of "voluntary formations", and also received on a contract basis. This was stated by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev. He is quoted by RIA Novosti.
On March 11, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to the proposal of Minister Sergei Shoigu to involve military volunteers from other countries in the fighting in Ukraine. In particular, the head of the Defense Ministry spoke about the military from the states of the Middle East, including from Syria. The Insider spoke with an orientalist who, on condition of anonymity, explained exactly which fighters they are talking about and how many people can recruit.
Medvedev is known for his statements, which are often far from politics and subsequently become memes and are quoted by the media. For example, in 2016, he uttered the phrase “There is no money, but you hold on” to pensioners in the annexed Crimea. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Dmitry Medvedev began to post his thoughts on social networks, including on the Telegram channel, where he has more than a million subscribers. So, he has already managed to promise to avenge the blocking of the YouTube channel of Dmitry Puchkov (“Goblin”), to call for the overthrow of the current US President Joe Biden “at the request of Colonel Trump.” He also hinted that those suspected of blowing up Zakhar Prilepin's car could die in custody. In addition, Medvedev stated that before the accession of Georgia to the Russian Empire, the first “did not exist at all”, and Kazakhstan is an artificial state, and promised to correct the “fatal mistake” of the 90s.