Russia has been forced to draft in one million Indian workers to prevent a collapse of its labour force. Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, many working-age Russians have received call-ups to the army.
The military is under immense pressure to find new recruits to send to the front to replace those killed or injured. Russia has sustained enormous personnel losses in just over three-and-a-half years of brutal fighting. According to some accounts, Vladimir Putin’s army has suffered over one million casualties – including dead and injured. Confronted with heavy casualties in Ukraine and a wave of retirements, Russia is now struggling to find enough workers to keep its war economy running.
Russian companies will need to hire the equivalent of two million workers a year over the next five to fill both newly created positions and vacancies left by retirees.
This has forced the Kremlin to scour the world to find foreign labourers to fill vacancies in Russian factories. Moscow has quietly struck a deal with New Delhi to bring in up to one million Indian workers to help ease manpower problems.
“As far as I know, by the end of the year, one million specialists from India will come to Russia, including the Sverdlovsk region,” Andrey Besedin told the RBC media outlet. The head of the Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry added: “A new Consulate General is opening in Yekaterinburg, which will deal with these issues.”
Besedin said the Indians would help fill the shortage of highly qualified workers in the Sverdlovsk region.
Located in the Urals, the region is home to Russian heavy industry and the military-industrial complex, including the world-famous Uralmash factory and T-90 series tank maker Ural Wagon Zavod.
Russia‘s economy is forecast to need 10 million workers by 2030, a significant challenge given a declining birth rate and a growing list of war casualties.
This year, birth rates in Russia fell to their lowest level in 200 years, according to a demographer. Alexei Raksha claimed the first quarter of 2025 likely saw the lowest number of births since the early 1800s, with February marking the lowest monthly figure in over 200 years.
Based on preliminary registry office data, he estimated that 95,000 to 96,000 children were born in March, bringing the total for the first quarter to around 293,000-294,000.
