Panicked Putin signs 'urgent' law allowing foreigners into Russian army as 100k killed

Vladimir Putin has signed a new law making it possible for foreigners to enlist in the Russian military. The Russian news service TASS reports that stateless individuals and people from other countries will be able to sign contracts and serve until the end of the "mobilisation period", the termination of martial law or the end of the war in Ukraine. It was legislated "in order to take urgent additional measures to restaff the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," an explanatory note to the order read.

Earlier this year, Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that 155 Chinese soldiers were fighting for Russia. Ukraine's military said in April that it had captured two of them. Chinese government spokesman Lin Jian said at the time that they "advise relevant parties to correctly and soberly understand China's role and not to make irresponsible remarks". He added: "China is neither the creator nor a party to the Ukrainian crisis. We are a staunch supporter and active promoter of the peaceful resolution of the crisis."

The ISW reported on July 4 that Russia's military command is "modernising Russian training grounds to include motorcycle tracks and reportedly intends to purchase up to 200,000 Chinese-made motorcycles for the Russian military".

The Kremlin is also already utilising troops from North Korea.

CNN reported on July 2 that a Ukrainian intelligence assessment stated that Kim Jog Un will likely send an additional 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers to Russia in the coming months.

It added that there is a "great possibility" that the foreign forces will enhance Russian forces in Ukraine, including "during large-scale offensive operations", the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) added.

Russia has suffered 1,028,610 casulaties in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on July 8, according to the Kyiv Independent.

The BBC reported in May that more than 100,000 have been killed. But the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has stated that Ukrainian fatality rates are also substantial, with between 60,000 and 100,000 soldiers killed, and 400,000 casualties overall.

Experts have also assessed that Russian officials are "concealing population data in an attempt to obfuscate Russia's ongoing demographic problems, and the omission of demographic data in Rosstat's reports likely also aim to obscure the Russian military's high personnel loss rates".