Vladimir Putin Desperately Recruits Soccer Players To 'Fight As Paratroopers' After Russian Army Dwindles

As Russia's army continues to dwindle, a desperate Vladimir Putin has resorted to recruiting soccer players to serve as "paratroopers to fight" in the ongoing Russia/Ukraine conflict, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The athletes have been mobilized to join the 106th Airborne Division in the city of Tula, where the team FC Arsenal Tula plays.

Media footage from Tula, which is about 125 miles south of Moscow, showed the players gearing up for combat. The players were said to be selected from the high soccer rank of "ultras."

The Russian military has been depleted for some time now and was in serious need of reinforcements, as Russian citizens took drastic measures to avoid being sent into Putin's war.

Putin's recruitment of soccer players is not the first time the Russian president looked to unlikely sources in an effort to revamp his quickly degrading military.

Last week, Putin announced that he would mobilize 2 million more troops as he attempts to shift the ongoing conflict in Russia's favor.

The announcement followed the bombshell that Putin would be recruiting murderers, rapists, and other imprisoned offenders to join his fight.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that Ukraine would persevere, stating in a video address that only "God knows how many mercenaries" would be killed before the year's end.

The Ukrainian military has continued to fight hard against Russian forces.

"We are defending and, most importantly, we do not allow the enemy to carry out their intentions," Zelensky said of Ukrainian troop's efforts in the town of Bakhmut.

"Hundreds" of Russian soldiers are estimated to have lost their lives each day as fighting continues in the Donetsk region, where Bakhmut is located.

"They said that they would capture Donetsk — in the spring, summer, autumn. This week, winter is already starting," Zelensky continued. "The world will do everything to ensure that everyone who is guilty of this criminal war is brought to justice."

The update painted a far more bleak situation than what the Kremlin has admitted to.

Ukraine claimed that around 89,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of the conflict — although the exact number has not been verified by an independent third party and Western allies estimate the actual number could be less.

Mark Milley, the chief of American general staff, claimed that "over 100,000 soldiers killed and wounded" in Ukraine.

In another desperate plea to revitalize the Russian front lines, Putin over-promised on high salaries for soldiers — which then threatened to bankrupt the Kremlin.