Russia plans to recruit 420,000 contract military personnel by the end of 2023, according to a report published on Twitter of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Monday morning.

"On September 3, 2023, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dimitry Medvedev stated that so far 280,000 personnel had been recruited. These numbers cannot be independently verified," the intelligence said.

British intelligence said conscription in Russia continues to have a negative impact on the workforce in its industry. "Russia's industry shortage of workers reached a new high of 42% for July 2023, 7% higher from April 2023," the intelligence said.

However, Russia has taken steps to preserve the workforce in the IT sector, which, as indicated in the report, highlights the acute shortage in the sector after about 100,000 IT specialists left Russia in 2022, which corresponds to 10% of the workforce in the whole sector.

"Mobilisation and conscription within Russia has worsened non-defence workforce shortages. In the run-up to the Russian presidential elections scheduled for March 2024, Russian authorities will likely seek to avoid further unpopular mobilisations," the British intelligence said.