The Orenburg region in Russia has drastically reduced the one-time enlistment bonuses for men signing military contracts to the legal minimum, becoming the fifth region this month to diminish financial incentives for volunteer soldiers engaged in the conflict in Ukraine.

Effective Tuesday, the regional administration lowered the bonus from 2 million rubles (approximately $25,000) to 400,000 rubles (around $5,000), as stated in a decree published a day prior.

This change overturns an increase enacted in January 2025, which had raised the bonus from 1 million rubles to 2 million rubles. Local officials had previously indicated that this higher amount would remain effective until the year’s end.

The revised bonus aligns with the minimum recommended payout for new recruits set by President Vladimir Putin last year, with the federal government usually matching this payment.

Orenburg now joins the Samara region and the republics of Tatarstan, Chuvashia, and Mari El, which have also quietly reduced their enlistment bonuses to the 400,000-ruble minimum this October.

Other areas, including Belgorod, Samara, the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, and Bashkortostan, had already cut army contract payments earlier this year.

While authorities had actively promoted earlier bonus increases through regional media, these recent reductions have been largely unannounced, coming to light only after the decrees appeared on official government websites.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, regional governments have offered substantial enlistment bonuses to attract volunteers in light of increasing battlefield losses. However, several regions have since scaled back these advantages due to financial pressures on local budgets.