50,000-60,000 Russians go to fight as volunteers on the front in Ukraine every month, President Vladimir Putin revealed at the "Business Russia" forum.
"If the Kiev authorities are engaged in forced mobilization, people are caught like dogs on the street, then our guys go voluntarily, they go to the front themselves.
Now in Kiev they are forcibly mobilized 30,000 people, but 50,000-60,000 people come to us every month. They come voluntarily. These are guys from your work teams, among others," Putin boasted.
The head of state is participating in the congress of "Business Russia" and is communicating with the forum participants via videoconference.
At the beginning of his speech, Putin noted that thanks to the efforts of the business community and the energy of entrepreneurial labor, the Russian economy demonstrates stability and continues to develop.
This cannot be prevented even by sanctions and external pressure. For example, in the year before last, GDP growth was 4.1%, and in the previous year - 4.3%.
According to the president, this success was possible thanks to the joint, partnership work of the state, business and work teams. It is the result of a combination of entrepreneurial freedom, initiative, as well as high qualifications of workers, engineers and specialists in various fields.
We recall that at the end of last year, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev stated that during the year almost 440,000 people had signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin stated during a meeting of the Ministry of Defense that in 2023, 300,000 volunteers had signed contracts to fight in Ukraine.