Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday gave his backing to a plan to increase the size of the country’s armed forces by more than 30%, while saying Moscow needed to learn lessons and fix the problems. problems he suffered in Ukraine.
At a year-end conference of Russia’s top military, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed increasing the Armed Forces to 1.5 million troops from the current 1.15 million.
This is necessary “to ensure the resolution of problems related to Russia’s military security,” Shoigu told Putin at the televised event. He stated that 695,000 of the fighters should be professional contract soldiers — as opposed to conscripts who do mandatory military service.
Putin signed a decree this summer ordering the number of troops to be increased by 137,000 from January 1, 2023 to reach the level of 1.15 million, and also called up more than 300,000 reservists in a campaign to controversial mobilization to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
US and Western military analysts say tens of thousands of Russian troops have died in the 10 months since Moscow invaded Ukraine. On September 21 – the last time an official count was shared publicly – Shoigu said 5,937 Russian soldiers were killed there.
Shoigu also proposed raising the age range for compulsory Russian military service to cover Russian citizens aged 21 to 30.
Under the current system, Russians between the ages of 18 and 27 can be called up for mandatory military service — although Shoigu and Putin have repeatedly said recruits are not being sent to fight in Ukraine.
At the end of the conference, Putin said he agreed with Shoigu’s proposals.
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Source: CNN Brasil
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