Russian President Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army recruits who enlist to fight in Ukraine.

The measure, the final version of which was published on a government website on Saturday, underlines Russia’s military needs in this nearly three-year-old war, even as it fired a new missile last week. intermediate-range ballistic missile.

According to Russia’s official Interfax news agency, the new legislation allows those who sign a one-year contract to write off bad debts of up to 10 million rubles ($96,000). The law applies to debts for which a court recovery order has been issued and enforcement proceedings have been initiated before December 1, 2024. It also applies to spouses of new recruits.

Russia has accelerated military recruitment by offering increasing financial incentives, in some cases several times the average salary, to those willing to do so. fight in Ukraine.

This strategy allowed the army to strengthen its ranks in the conflict zone while avoiding a new mobilization order. A “partial mobilization” in September 2022 triggered an exodus of tens of thousands of Russian men, who fled the country to avoid being drafted.

The intense and prolonged war strained Russian resources. Putin in September called on the army to increase its numbers by 180,000 troops.

By evoking the nuclear threat, Putin bets that Trump is ready to backtrack on Ukraine

The United States, South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October, some of whom recently began engaging in combat on the front lines, increasing thus the pressure on the Ukrainian army, also tired and overloaded.

This recruitment campaign coincides with Thursday’s firing of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile on Ukraine. Putin said this was in response to kyiv’s use of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia.

Ukrainian security services showed The Associated Press on Sunday the wreckage of the new experimental ballistic missile, which struck a factory in the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine.

The fragments of missile called Oreshnik – Russian for hazel, and which, according to the Pentagon, is based on the Russian RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile – have not yet been analyzed, according to security officials present at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. The AP and other media outlets were able to view the fragments before they were recovered by investigators.

Charred, mangled wires and an ashen airframe the size of a large snow tire were all that remained of the weapon, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.

“It should be noted that this is the first time that the remains of such a missile have been discovered on Ukrainian territory,” said an expert from the Ukrainian security services, who identified himself only by his first name Oleh because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the missile was fired from the 4th missile testing range, Kapustin Yar, in Russia’s Astrakhan region and flew for 15 minutes before hitting Dnipro. The missile had six warheads, each carrying six submunitions. Maximum speed was 11 Mach.

In light of the missile strike, US President-elect Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday that the new administration wanted to “bring both sides to the table” and was concerned about escalation.

Waltz made it clear on “Fox News Sunday” that he met with Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, to discuss U.S. policy and options in Ukraine, and the Florida congressman assured those conversations would continue.

“For our adversaries who think this is a time of opportunity, that they can play one administration against another, they are wrong,” Waltz said. “We are hand in hand. We are one team with the United States in this transition.

Waltz appeared to approve of Biden’s decision to send landmines to Ukrainian forces for use in the conflict. “This is a step toward some solidification of the lines, and we also needed to stop the Russian advances,” Waltz said.

The congressman also highlighted Trump’s desire to see the conflict end quickly. Trump, who has praised Putin over the years, avoided throughout the campaign setting conditions for an end to the conflict, suggesting he would be open to significant annexations of Ukraine. Waltz avoided discussing what conditions Trump might adopt once he takes office.

“The president-elect was very concerned about the escalation and where this was going,” Waltz said. “We need to end this responsibly. We must restore deterrence, restore peace and anticipate this escalation, rather than respond to it. »

In other developments:

– Moscow sent 73 drones to Ukraine overnight on Sunday. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, 50 drones were destroyed and four lost, probably due to electronic jamming.

– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Russian forces struck Ukraine last week with more than 800 guided aerial bombs, about 460 attack drones and more than 20 missiles.

– In Russia, the Defense Ministry said 34 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight Sunday in four regions of western Russia, including Kursk, Lipetsk, Belgorod and one over the region of Orel.