PUTIN OFFERS STAGGERING SUM FOR NEW RECRUITS AS RUSSIA PLEDGES TO STRENGTHEN FAILED FORCES
It is the second such expansion of the army since 2018. The previous boost by 137,000 troops, ordered by Putin in Aug. 2022, put the military’s numbers at about 2 million personnel and about 1,150,000 troops.
The Defense Ministry said the order doesn’t imply any “significant expansion of conscription,” saying in a statement that the increase would happen gradually by recruiting more volunteers. The ministry cited what it called “the special military operation” in Ukraine and the expansion of NATO as the reasons for beefing up the army.
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“NATO’s Joint Armed Forces are being formed near Russia’s borders and more air defense systems and strike weapons are being deployed. The prospects for NATO’s tactical nuclear forces are increasing,” he said.
The Russian troop increase is an appropriate reaction to the “aggressive activities of the NATO bloc,” the ministry said.