Putin orders military to boost troop numbers to 1.5 million

Iran Press TV

Monday, 16 September 2024 3:18 PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country's military leaders to recruit more forces to increase its troop numbers to 1.5 million.

The number of Russian soldiers will rise from 1.32 million to 1.5 million, according to Putin's decree, which will come into effect on December 1.

Putin's decree, published on the official government website, will increase the overall number of Russian military personnel from 2.2 million to nearly 2.4 million (including 1.5 million troops).

The presidential decree also orders the government to provide the necessary funding for the increase in the number of armed forces.

The previous increase in Russian troop numbers came last December and before that in June, when Putin put the number of troops involved in the special military operation in Donbas in eastern Ukraine at nearly 700,000. Some 300,000 reservists were called in after Ukraine's counteroffensive in the fall of 2022.

Military observers and analysts have noted that Moscow has been reluctant to call in more reservists, fearing domestic destabilization like what happened in 2022, when many draft dodgers fled Russia to avoid joining the armed forces.

Russian authorities have been filling the ranks with volunteer soldiers, who have been attracted to high salaries.

Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine's Donbas two and a half years ago with the main objective of liberating the Donbas region. Since then, Western countries have been supporting the former Soviet republic with diplomatic and financial backing, providing Kiev with arms and munitions despite repeated warnings by the Kremlin that such a policy would only prolong the war.

The Ukrainian forces on August 6 invaded Russia in an attack on the Kursk region.

The US-led Western countries backing Kiev have even supplied long-range missiles, tanks, and warplanes to Ukraine in spite of their initial reluctance to do so, turning the regional conflict into a full-fledged war with global ramifications.