“About 250,000 Russian soldiers who returned from the war against Ukraine have lost their jobs, Kremlin official Serhii Novikov said. State media later changed the figure to “tens of thousands” after intervention from above”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“We have a rather large gray area – tens of thousands of people who… have not found employment. They returned, they do not work, or they spend the money they received, or they do business in another way… And a total of 250,000 people… have not found employment anywhere,” a Kremlin official reported at the end of 2025.
The news with his quote was published by the state agency “RIA Novosti”, but later the headline and text of the message were rewritten, replacing the number with the words “tens of thousands”. The initial version remained in the web archive.
The official’s words were also reported by the publication “Kommersant”, the telegram channel “Context”, the websites “Rydus” and “Tsargrad”. As the journalist was told by an interlocutor in one of the publications where the news was evaluated, it was done “by a call from above.”
The interlocutor in the government added that “250,000 unemployed among the soldiers who returned from the front is an approximate, but correct figure”, but negative for the Russian authorities.
At the same time, another state agency, TASS, citing Novikov, reported at the end of December that the total number of military personnel who “returned to civilian life” was 167,000. It is only about those who have a certificate of a veteran of combat operations.
In June 2025, the Russian government reported that 57% of the demobilized were already working, but their number was not mentioned, Rustamova added.