The Russian defence ministry statement posted on the Kremlin's website said the numbers would be increased gradually through a recruitment drive, and not by mobilisation or changes to conscription.
That's gonna be expensive, given that you've already offered pay well in excess of what the typical Russian salary is, and still weren't able to attract all the people that haven't signed up.
The risk of death is something that prospective recruits are gonna take into account; that's on both sides of the equation. Russia was offering death benefits before, and I expect that that hasn't changed.
The Russia-1 story didn’t specify how much money the family received in compensation for their son’s death, but according to Russian law, deceased soldiers’ relatives are entitled to a one-time payment and insurance coverage worth 7.4 million rubles (about $127,000). In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that victims’ families would be paid an additional five million rubles (about $86,000). Regional governments also issue families separate payments ranging from one million to three million rubles (approximately $17,000 to $51,000).
That's possible -- Russia could default on payments to veterans -- but if it does so, there are going to be domestic political risks that the Kremlin is going to have to deal with.
My guess is that if Russia is going to burn someone, the survivors of veterans won't be at the top of the list.
Also problematic if the Kremlin intends to fight any other wars in the near future -- if they don't honor promises made now, it's going to make it harder to get people onboard in the next conflict.
Spoken like someone from a state of law. That's not what reality in Russia looks like. If the mafia doesn't pay you, you don't cause trouble for the mafia.
Death benefits are a sack of onions or some shit. They aren't even paying their living soldiers wages. Also, they are not even dead, just missing, when they leave them in Ukraine.