The number of Belarusian citizens who signed contracts with Russian forces in the first half of 2025 is almost 100 times higher than in 2022, military intelligence data shows.

Source: Patriots of Two States: How Belarusians Are Forced to Fight to the Death Against Ukrainians, an investigation by Slidstvo.Info, an independent team of investigative journalists, the Belarusian Investigative Center, and KibOrg, a Ukrainian project investigating Russian aggression, collaborators and disinformation

Quote: “The journalists analysed a list of 1,031 people identified as Belarusian citizens who joined the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The first contract was signed in July 2022, the most recent on 15 July 2025. There was a sharp rise in the number of Belarusian mercenaries in 2023, from only six contract soldiers the year before to 235 in 2023 and 518 in 2024.”

Details: According to the intelligence data, the pace slowed in 2025: as of early July, 157 soldiers had signed contracts. Another 116 military volunteers had no recorded enlistment date.

Data from I Want to Live (Hochu Zhit), a project run by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, indicates that 596 Belarusian citizens signed contracts with the Russian Armed Forces in the first half of 2025 – nearly 100 times more than in all of 2022, when just six individuals signed up.

Quote: “The journalists estimate that over 10% of Belarusian mercenaries have been killed, and another 8% are missing in action. This indicates that roughly one in five is highly likely to have died.”

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