137,000 more troops ordered by Putin

In response to Moscow's military action in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to increase its troop strength by 137,000 to 1.15 million.

On Jan. 1, Putin's decree will take effect, but it did not specify whether more conscripts will be drafted, or more volunteers will be recruited, or a combination of both.

The Kremlin has expressed concern about possible fallout from an increase in the draft, so some Russian military analysts predicted it would rely heavily on volunteers.

There will be 2,039,758 military personnel in the Russian armed forces, of which 1,150,628 will be troops. The number of military personnel at the beginning of 2018 was 1,902,758 and 1,013,628.

The Kremlin has said that only volunteer contract soldiers take part in what it calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine, rejecting claims that it was pondering a mobilization.

25 August 2022