Putin gave the Russian army the command to raise its force to 170,000 soldiers

 Putin gave the Russian army the command to raise its force to 170,000 soldiers

Putin gave the Russian army the command to raise its force to 170,000 soldiers

With the continuing invasion of Ukraine, the most recent rise takes the overall number of Russian military personnel to 1.32 million.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has given the military command to add almost 170,000 more soldiers, for a total of 1.32 million, as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine enters its 22nd month.

Putin's order was announced by the Kremlin on Friday and became operative right away. With 1.32 million troops, this raises the overall number of Russian military forces to almost 2.2 million.

Since 2018, the army has expanded in this manner twice. Putin had already planned a 137,000 troop increase in August 2022, bringing the army's size to almost 2 million people and 1.15 million soldiers.

"Any significant expansion of recruitment" is not what the directive means, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry. The increase will occur gradually as more volunteers are recruited. The rise was justified, according to the government, by "special military operations" in Ukraine and NATO expansion.

The Russian military's reinforcement, according to the ministry, was a fitting reaction to "the NATO bloc's aggressive activities."

Sergei Shoigu, Russia's minister of defense, said in December of last year that the nation need a force of 1.5 million soldiers "to guarantee the fulfillment of the tasks of ensuring the security of Russia." When the army will grow to that size was not specified by him.

Prior to strong Ukrainian opposition shattering prospects of an early triumph over its neighbor, the Kremlin believed that the amount of its soldiers was enough.

The exact number of military losses for Russia and Ukraine is still unknown in the midst of continuous battles. Though Western estimates are significantly higher, the Russian military has reported just over 6,000 combat deaths. According to the UK Ministry of Defense, Russia "probably suffered 150,000 to 190,000 permanent casualties" in October. This figure includes troops who lost their lives or sustained significant injuries.

There have been many attempts by Russian politicians to strengthen the military. Putin issued an order in August 2022 to raise the Russian army's strength to 1.15 million soldiers starting on January 1, 2023. He gave the order to mobilize 300,000 reserve soldiers the next month in order to bolster his forces in Ukraine. The army's current strength is calculated using that figure.

Putin has said that there is no need to gather more forces, but his order to mobilize remains open, meaning that the army may summon more reserves if necessary. It was also forbidden by that directive for voluntary troops to end their contracts.

For months, recruiters have been phoning eligible males throughout Russia's enormous area, recruiting centers have been luring jobless and students, and adverts offering financial incentives have all been used to persuade more men to enroll. collaborating with social service organizations and colleges.

Rights organizations and some media outlets claim that Russian authorities also grant inmates amnesty in return for serving their sentences in the military.

These initiatives are in addition to the normal draft, which enlists between 120,000 and 140,000 men for an obligatory one-year tour of duty twice a year. Officials maintain that no one is being sent to Ukraine as part of their forced labor.

Every Russian man between the ages of 18 and 27 is required to serve in the army for a year, however many choose not to be drafted due to health issues or a deferral offered to college students. In Moscow and other big cities, the percentage of males who choose not to be drafted is very high. From January 1st of this year, the authorities increased the maximum age limit for mandatory duty to 30 years.