Tens of thousands have signed up for contract military service this year, former Russian...

Tens of thousands of people have signed up for professional service with the Russian military since the start of the year, state media quoted the country's former president as saying Sunday.

Citing Russia’s defense ministry, Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as deputy head of the Russian Security Council, said “about 280,000 people have been accepted into the ranks of the Armed Forces on contract service,” the state news agency Tass reported.

He went on to clarify that some people were on reserve, whilst others were volunteers, the agency said.

NBC News could not independently verify his claim, but last year Russia announced a plan to expand its combat personnel by more than 30% to 1.5 million.

President Vladimir Putin ordered a “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists last September, prompting hundreds of thousands of others to flee Russia to avoid being sent to the war in Ukraine.