Russian President Vladimir Putin has decreed a significant expansion of the country’s military, mandating the recruitment of 180,000 additional soldiers. This increase will raise the total number of troops to 1.5 million, even as Russia’s military operation in Ukraine extends beyond two and a half years.
The decree, announced on the official government website on Monday, September 16, will take effect on December 1. It will bring the total number of Russian military personnel to approximately 2.4 million, including 1.5 million active troops.
The Russian government has been directed to allocate the necessary funding to support this military buildup.
This directive marks the second increase in Russian troop numbers within a year. In December, Putin had previously issued a decree setting the total military personnel at around 2.2 million, with 1.32 million designated as active troops.
The expansion comes as Russia’s elite forces continue to make gradual progress in eastern Ukraine, while Ukrainian troops maintain their hold on the Kursk region of Russia.
In June, Putin reported that nearly 700,000 troops were engaged in what the Kremlin terms the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Following a call-up of 300,000 reservists after Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the fall of 2022, Russian authorities have turned to volunteers and prisoners to fill the ranks, incentivized by relatively high wages and the promise of freedom.
The shortage of military personnel is widely believed to be a significant factor behind Ukraine’s successful incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, which began on August 6.
