Putin once again expands size of Russia's Armed Forces
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has issued a decree increasing the number of personnel in the Russian Armed Forces to 2,389,130, including 1,500,000 military personnel.
Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti; DW, a German international broadcaster and media outlet; Meduza, a Latvia-based Russian media outlet
Quote: "I hereby decree: The staffing of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation shall be established at 2,389,130 individuals, including 1,500,000 military personnel."
Details: The Kremlin leader has ordered the government to allocate the necessary funds from the treasury to the Defence Ministry to implement the decree.
This means that Putin has increased the Armed Forces' staff by 180,000 people.
In December 2023, Putin expanded the size of the Russian Armed Forces, bringing the total number of personnel to 1.32 million. Prior to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this number barely exceeded 1 million.
The Russian Defence Ministry has not yet commented on Putin's new decree.
Following the decree issued in December 2023, the ministry stated that the increase in the size of the Armed Forces would come from "citizens who wish to serve under contract," with no significant increase in conscription for regular military service and no plans for mobilisation. The ministry attributed the troop increase to "the growing threats to the country related to the special military operation [as the Russian propaganda terms the war against Ukraine] and the ongoing NATO expansion".
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