Yesterday, SOFREP reported on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree to increase their military forces to 2 million by 2023. While there are existing recruitment problems in the Russian military, Putin is optimistic that they will be able to fill in the gap. One way Kremlin is doing that is by pushing for immigration to Russia.

During an interview on the Russian-state TV show “Who’s Against?” Anna Revyakina, deputy chairwoman of the Public Chamber of the “so-called Donestk People’s Republic in occupied Ukraine,” expressed how attractive it is to be an immigrant in Russia nowadays. However, instead of highlighting their losses during the war and the potential insurgency within Russia’s general public, Revyakina said the government should push for more ways to attract foreigners to Russia.

“All of us Russians and our government should create maximally attractive conditions for the citizens of other countries to come to us, augmenting our population,” she said. “We have an enormous territory, a huge country, maybe not even fully developed, 140 million people—of course, we need more. Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] is concerned about this, with various programs for families with many children.”

Kremlin Moscow
St. Basil and the Kremlim Moscow. (Source: Mariano Mantel/Flickr)

She also said there are Russians who live in the Baltics, which could potentially add to the gap in their immigration numbers. However, Revyakina said they would have to be “loyal, in love with Russia and speaking the language.” Over the years, Russia has always aimed to educate residents of the Baltic states to learn the Russian language. They have the state media propagandists showing leisurely shows in the Russian language to encourage locals to speak and learn it.