Moscow: 'The 150 thousand new recruits will not go to Ukraine' The enrollment of around 150.000 new recruits is part of the normal spring conscription call. Vice Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, deputy head of the Organization Department, stressed that "all recruits will be sent to permanent bases for active service" At the end of 2023, President Vladimir Putin said that two thirds of the 617,000 military personnel employed in Ukraine are professionals who enlisted under contract, and a third are reservists called up to arms.