Russian recruitment bonuses are worth paying attention to. It is a hard signal of what they think they need and where they're going in the mid-term. They can't really hide this number like they can their casualty or production rates. The signup bonus price is an indicator of both the demand from the Russian army and the labour cost from the general population
When it spiked to ludicrous numbers, it signalled commitment to their plan of conquest, and to spend their way out of failure. Seeing the rate drop like this in such a vital place like St. Petersburg shows both budget realities and resignation setting in. $40,000 is life changing money for many russians, and maybe worth dying for, at least for your family. $4,000 is not.
Their entire war strategy at this point is Infantry Inflitration (or Infestation) + Terror Bombing. That'a strategy that moves slowly and chews up men. Russia haven't mobilized post-election like they threatened, and they are ramping down their recruitment bonuses. All that while personnel losses are reaching their highest levels of the entire war.
Those points are all related - their strategy went from artillery and armor to mobile infantry infiltration, which skyrocketed the casualty volume and recruitment costs. It also didn't produce better soldiers. Infantry isn't like appliances where it's better if you pay more. If anything, it's the opposite. The quality of the Average Fighting Man seemed to have fallen as the recruiment costs got more and more expensive. Lots of people were fretting about the tired cliche that 'Russia is bottomless, resistance is pointless'. Those same voices said russia could always at least hold the line in terms of recruiment numbers compared to their losses (which they denied anyways). That barely comes up anymore, and the only thing that's bottomless is their depravity. Maybe it turns out that simply maintaining raw numbers of men in uniform doesn't make for an effective assuault strategy. Quality matters.
In short - this is a good sign that suggests they're winding things down.
