Putin offers to wipe out debt of new army recruits

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army recruits who enlist to fight in Ukraine.

The measure underscores Russia’s needs for military personnel in the nearly three-year-old war, even after it fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile last week.

According to Russian state news agency Interfax, the legislation allows those signing up for a one-year contract to write off bad debts of up to 10 million rubles (£77,000). The law applies to debts for which a court order for collection was issued and enforcement proceedings had commenced before December 1 this year, and it also applies to the spouses of recruits.

Russia has ramped up military recruitment by offering increasing financial incentives, in some cases several times the average salary, to those willing to fight in Ukraine.

The strategy has allowed the military to boost its ranks in the conflict zone while avoiding another mobilisation order. A “partial mobilisation” in September 2022 sparked an exodus of tens of thousands of Russian men who fled the country to avoid enlistment.

The intense and drawn-out war has strained Russian resources, and Mr Putin in September called for the military to increase its troops by 180,000.

The US, South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October, some of whom have recently begun engaging in combat on the front lines, piling more pressure on Ukraine’s also weary and overstretched army.

The push for recruits coincides with a new intermediate-range ballistic missile the Kremlin fired at Ukraine on Thursday. Mr Putin said it was in response to Kyiv’s use of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia.

Ukraine’s Security Service on Sunday showed the wreckage of the new experimental ballistic missile, which struck a factory in the central city of Dnipro.

The fragments of the missile called Oreshnik – Russian for hazel tree, and which the Pentagon said is based on Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile – have not been analysed yet, according to security officials on site in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. They were shown to the media before they were taken by investigators.

Charred, mangled wires and an ashy airframe the size of a large snow tyre was all that remained of the weapon, which can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads.

“It should be noted that this is the first time that the remains of such a missile have been discovered on the territory of Ukraine,” said an expert with Ukraine’s Security Service, who did not want to be named.

Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate said the missile was fired from the 4th Missile Test Range, Kapustin Yar, in Russia’s Astrakhan region and flew for 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. The missile had six warheads, each carrying six submunitions. The peak speed was 11 Mach.

In light of the missile strike, US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday that the incoming administration wants “to get both sides to the table” and is concerned about escalation.

Mr Waltz made clear on Fox News Sunday that he has met with Mr Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, to discuss US policy and options in Ukraine, and the Florida congressman assured that those conversations will continue.

“For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity, that they can play one administration off the other, they’re wrong,” Mr Waltz said.

“We are hand in glove. We are one team with the United States in this transition.”

Mr Waltz seemed to endorsed Mr Biden’s decision to send anti-personnel mines for Ukraine forces to use in the conflict.

“It is a step towards somewhat solidifying the lines, and we also needed to stop Russian gains,” Mr Waltz said.

The congressman also emphasised Mr Trump’s desire for the conflict to end quickly.

Mr Trump, who has praised Mr Putin over the years, avoided throughout the campaign setting conditions for an end to the conflict, suggesting he would be open to considerable annexations of Ukraine.

Mr Waltz avoided discussing any terms Mr Trump might pursue once he takes office.

“The president-elect has been very concerned about the escalation and where it’s all going,” Mr Waltz said.

“We need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence, restore peace and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it.”

Meanwhile, Moscow sent 73 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday. According to Ukraine’s air force, 50 drones were destroyed and four lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russian forces over the past week had struck Ukraine with more than 800 guided aerial bombs, about 460 attack drones and more than 20 missiles.

In Russia, the defence ministry said 34 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Sunday in four regions of western Russia, including Kursk, Lipetsk, Belgorod and one over the Oryol region.