Vladimir Putin has increased the salaries of soldiers fighting Ukraine to nearly three times the average salary of his civilian population, British officials have reported.

While roughly 14 million Russians live under the poverty line, and many well above that threshold live on less than half the average monthly rental payment in the UK, Putin is continuing to divert funds to his full-scale invasion in a desperate bid to continue what has become a war of attrition.

Roughly 400,00 Russian soldiers are either currently fighting in Ukraine, have been mobilised to subsequently join the ranks or have been killed, or wounded, in action, accounting for less than 0.3 per cent of the population.

But funds are being disproportionately diverted towards paying these soldiers at the expense of the millions in poverty.

It is the latest attempt from the Kremlin to encourage Russians to mobilise in Ukraine; earlier this month, Express.co.uk reported that Putin was forcing top universities to accept the underqualified children of soldiers participating in the “special military operation” in a twisted attempt to blackmail fathers of fighting age.

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In an update from the British Ministry of Defence, they described military service in the Russian Armed Forces as an “increasingly lucrative” option.

They noted how a Russian lieutenant, which is a position significantly higher than the rank of private, received at the start of last year less than half of what a junior ranked soldier has been banking in the past few months.

They added that the average salary of a private is now “2.7 times the Russian national average salary”.

Russian salaries are considerably lower than its European neighbours but the MoD reported that the unadjusted equivalent in the United Kingdom would be more than £90,000 a year, which is just under £5,000 a month after tax.

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“It is highly likely that the salary and additional benefits are a strong incentive for personnel to join up, especially to those from the poorer areas of Russia”, the MoD said.

“However, Russia is still unlikely to meet its targets for recruiting volunteers to the ranks.”

Pavel Luzin, an expert on Russian foreign and defence policy at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, told Express.co.uk that the Kremlin is desperately trying to “expand the room for manoeuvre” in hiring more soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

He said an increase in short term contracts for younger soldiers, as well as contract extensions for troops in the “active mobilisation reserve” were part of a wider programme to counter the “operative and strategic uncertainty related to the combat situation”.

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The latest estimates from US officials suggest that roughly 120,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion last February.

Up to 180,000 Russian soldiers have also been wounded, forcing them to at least temporarily withdraw from the fighting.

While Ukraine has also suffered increased personnel losses during its 10-week counter offensive, having trawled through miles-deep minefields and traversed perilous open fields under enemy artillery fire, their death count is believed to be considerably lower, at about 70,000 dead and 120,000 wounded.

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