Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an expansion of his nation’s armed forces on Monday, as the war in Ukraine enters its 31st month.
The action, published on a government website, will take effect on December 1 and add a supplementary 180,000 soldiers to the country’s 1.5 million already on active duty. The callup is expected to bring the overall number of personnel controlled by Russia’s defense ministry to just under 2.4 million individuals.
The augmentation is the third official increase in the size of the Russian military since Moscow ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The latest enlargement comes as the fighting against Western-backed Ukrainian forces has recently intensified, which has seen Kiev targeting more areas beyond its own borders and launching maneuvers into Russia’s Kursk region.
In addition to the requirements of maintaining their operations in Ukraine, Kremlin officials also explained that the determination was made in the context of NATO’s new presence along its borders, notably the membership of Finland in April 2023.
When the plan is fully implemented, Russia will likely have the second largest military in the world next to China’s.
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