Russia's so desperate for soldiers that it's offering a $5,200 sign-on bonus to recruit from neighboring Kazakhstan

• The Russian military has begun recruiting from Kazakhstan amid a personnel crunch, Reuters reported.
• It's offering benefits like a $5,200 sign-on bonus and a salary of at least $2,000 to new recruits.

Russia has a military-personnel problem as its war in Ukraine rages on.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime is so desperate for recruits that Moscow is offering a sign-on bonus of 495,000 rubles, or about $5,200, to people in the neighboring country of Kazakhstan if they join the Russian army, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Kazakhstan is a former Soviet republic home to about 3.5 million ethnic Russians, who make up nearly 18% of the country's population of about 19.5 million people.

The online recruitment ads feature the flags of Russia and Kazakhstan alongside the slogan "Shoulder to shoulder," per Reuters. The posts offer the 495,000-ruble one-off payment, a monthly 190,000-ruble salary, and other benefits for those who ink a contract with the Russian military, per the news agency.

The ads lead to a website that offers people a chance to join the Russian army in the country's far eastern Sakhalin region — where an organization set up by the local government is doing the recruitment, according to Reuters.

Russia and Kazakhstan are allies. However, the Kazakh government has not supported Russia's war in Ukraine and has urged for peace.

Joining military conflicts abroad for financial gain is also illegal under the law in Kazakhstan, according to Reuters.

Moscow's recruitment efforts of non-Russian citizens come as the country faces a broad personnel crunch amid the war in Ukraine, particularly after Putin launched a mobilization of 300,000 reservists last fall, prompting tens of thousands of Russian men to flee the country.

And it's not just the military that's facing a shortfall. The Russian economy similarly is facing a record labor shortage, Russia's RBC news outlet reported on Thursday, citing a survey by the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy. The surveys found 42% of Russian industrial enterprises experienced a shortage of workers in July.

The Russian defense ministry and Kazakhstan's information ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.