RUSSIA: Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to increase the size of the country’s armed forces after signing a decree that could add as many as 137,000 more troops in its war with Ukraine.
The additional service personnel is thought to be part of a new army corps that are being formed throughout Russia, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defense, as reported by BBC News.
Putin’s decree comes after the Pentagon has estimated that as many as 80,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the first six months of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The decree, which was published by Putin’s office in Russian and translated by BBC News, said that the “Armed Forces of the Russian Federation should be set at 2,039,758, including 1,150,628 military personnel.”
Current military personnel limits are 1,013,628 troops, up from what was thought to have been 900,000 at the start of the Ukraine invasion. Putin’s decree also requested Government funds to add military personnel, with an expected onset date of January 1, 2023.
But what was unclear from the decree was if the number of military personnel would increase through volunteers or by expanding conscripts beyond Russian men aged 18 to 27 who can be drafted.
– INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
