President Putin increases the Russian army's staff by nearly 2.4 million people
President Putin decided to increase the staff of the Russian Armed Forces to 2,389,130 people.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new decree on increasing the size of the Russian Armed Forces, RIA Novosti reported. The document was posted on the official website of state legal documents.
“I decide: 1. To establish the number of armed forces of the Russian Federation at 2,389,130 units, including 1,500,000 servicemen,” the decree of President Putin stated. This document comes into force from December 1, 2024.
The Russian leader also instructed the Government to allocate the amount of money from the budget to the Ministry of Defense necessary to implement the decree.
The last time the number of personnel of the Armed Forces was increased was in December 2023. Accordingly, the number of personnel was raised to 2,209,130 people, including 1,320,000 soldiers.
In the first half of 2024, according to Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, about 190,000 citizens signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
President Putin said in early September 2024 that the number of people wishing to become conscripts had increased sharply after the Ukrainian Armed Forces entered Russia's Kursk region. Earlier, in mid-June, Putin announced that there were nearly 700,000 Russian servicemen in the special operations zone.
The Russian leader also announced the rejuvenation of the Russian Armed Forces. According to President Putin, currently in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces, the average age of commanders and groups of forces is 56 years old, army commanders – 50 years old, division commanders – 50 years old, and now it has been reduced to 46 years old.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments to TASS on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, pointed out that the potential of the Russian economy is needed to meet the growing needs of the military.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that in current conditions, increasing combat power and the number of armed forces is an appropriate response to NATO's aggressive activities.
According to the Ministry, contract military recruitment remains stable, averaging about 1,000 people per day.
