UK Defense Ministry: Russia likely facing 'worst labor shortage' in decades

The U.K. Defense Ministry said in its latest update that Russia is "almost certainly facing its worst labour shortage in decades," with its population having reportedly decreased by "two million more people than expected" due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and its all-out war against Ukraine.

According to the ministry, up to 1.3 million people left Russia in 2022,  including "many younger and well-educated people in high-value industries." For example, around 10% of Russia's IT workforce reportedly permanently left the country.

The labor supply is also limited by mobilization, a "historically high emigration," and an aging and declining population, which will "likely lead to a reduction in the potential growth of the Russian economy and risks stoking inflation."

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported earlier in the day that Russia had lost 194,430 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year.

Army of hired guns: How Russia’s ‘PMCs’ are becoming the main invasion force

Private armies are illegal in Russia, so naturally, Moscow has been using them for decades. Now, it’s making them the main invasion force. The rate at which Russia creates new private military company-like units sped up after 2014 but it really took off during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine,

Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov