Russia claims 200,000 new volunteers for Ukraine war as Zelenskyy secures Patriot pledge from Trump

Moscow touts volunteer numbers, rejects conscription talk

Russia's deputy Security Council chief Dmitri Medwedew said in a Telegram video that around 200,000 volunteers signed contracts to fight in Ukraine in the first half of 2026. The figure cannot be independently verified. Medwedew insisted the personnel requirements of the armed forces had been "completely" met and dismissed Ukrainian claims that the Kremlin is preparing a new wave of forced conscription.

There is absolutely no need for a mobilization. That is a lie of the enemy, who himself suffers from a shortage of personnel.

He accused Kyiv of spreading lies, provocations and rumours to destabilise Russia ahead of the September parliamentary election. Russia attracts volunteers with high bonuses and salaries, though many men who have completed military service also report pressure to sign up.

Fear of a repeat of 2022 runs deep

Public anxiety over a possible second mobilisation remains acute. In 2022 the Kremlin similarly denied any plan for forced recruitment, only to announce a partial call-up that prompted hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee the country. Outgoing German ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff told Der Spiegel in mid-July that "more and more people" in Moscow were discussing a potential draft after the Duma vote.

I also fear that Russians could be drafted again on a larger scale.

Medwedew's latest assurances have done little to calm those fears, and independent observers note that the official narrative is widely disbelieved.

Ukraine's own manpower crisis

Kyiv is grappling with severe personnel problems of its own. Frontline units are short of soldiers, desertions are common, and resistance to sometimes violent recruitment drives is widespread. Former defence minister Mychajlo Fedorow, before his controversial dismissal, said about two million men had evaded mobilisation. He had tried to reform the recruitment system with more attractive contract terms, but the shortages persist.

Zelenskyy meets Trump, secures Patriot pledge

Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Zelenskyy described his meeting with US President Donald Trump as good. Afterwards, chief of staff Kyrylo Budanow announced that both sides had agreed to intensify the negotiation process at all levels in pursuit of a just peace. No further details were given. Separately, Zelenskyy said Trump promised Ukraine licences to produce Patriot air-defence systems. Patriot batteries remain Ukraine's only effective counter to Russian ballistic missiles, and Zelenskyy had warned in the spring that interceptor stocks were running dangerously low.

Diplomacy and the shadow of the Iran war

The US war against Iran has further strained global supplies of Patriot interceptors and brought American-mediated talks between Kyiv and Moscow to a standstill. The renewed diplomatic push and the Patriot licence offer signal an attempt to restart a process that had stalled since the opening of that conflict.