Russia is ramping up efforts to recruit Africans to fight in Ukraine to shore up growing battlefield losses and sustain multiple offensive thrusts along the front line.

British officials said the Kremlin is offering a $2,000 sign-up bonus and a monthly $2,200 paycheck — along with the promise of a Russian passport — for African recruits.

Moscow has focused its recent personnel efforts on the central African countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Congo and Uganda, U.K. military officials said Monday.

More than 100,000 Russian prisoners are believed to have enlisted as part of the since-disbanded Wagner Group mercenary force and so-called Storm-Z units of the Russian army since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The units are usually thrown into battle with little training or consideration for the lives of the ex-prisoners.

Even so, military analysts say that pool of military recruits is rapidly diminishing.

“Russia is likely expanding its recruitment across the global south to avoid additional mobilizations within Russia itself,” British defense intelligence officials posted on X in their latest assessment of the battlefield conditions inside Ukraine.

Along with being domestically unpopular, recent draft efforts in Russia resulted in record labor shortages across the country and an exodus of skilled workers, such as physicians and information technology professionals, British officials said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.