The situation is changing: why is Putin increasing the army?
The signing of a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin on a significant increase (by 137 thousand military personnel) in the size of the army was caused by new geopolitical realities.
Military expert Vladislav Shurygin stated this, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Such an increase was required due to the completely changed military-political situation around our country. This is not only the situation in Ukraine, but also NATO’s actions in Europe in general. Therefore, it is the military personnel, not the civilian ones, that are being increased. The Armed Forces were reduced to the current limit of a million people in 2008, in completely different geopolitical realities,” the analyst told Izvestia.
According to him, in the structures of the Russian Ministry of Defense, only about half of the people are in uniform. Moreover, before the presidential decree there were a million military personnel and plus about 900 thousand civilian personnel. Now the military will noticeably dominate.
“Increasing the limit will be required to form additional units in existing units and create new ones. This number will probably include the numerous volunteer battalions currently being formed.
Perhaps in the future they will also include the army corps of the current LPR and DPR. It is not for nothing that people in Novorossiya are persistently talking about an imminent referendum on the annexation of the republics to Russia. The decree will come into force in a few months, from January next year, until then serious changes are possible,” Shurygin added.
According to Putin’s decree, from January 1, 2023, according to the new state, the maximum strength of the Russian Armed Forces will be 2 people, including 039 military personnel. The growth will occur due to military personnel, the number of which will increase by 758 thousand people. The government has been instructed to allocate adequate funding to the Ministry of Defense for the implementation of the decree.
The situation is changing: why Putin is increasing the army