RT reported that on September 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree officially increasing the number of personnel in the Russian armed forces to nearly 2.4 million people, including 1.5 million soldiers.
The latest increase follows a similar decree in December 2023, when President Putin ordered an increase in the number of personnel in the Russian military to more than 2.2 million, including 1.3 million military personnel.
In the decree dated September 16, President Putin also instructed the Russian Government to allocate the necessary funds for the Ministry of National Defense to carry out the troop increase, officially bringing the number of personnel in the armed forces to 2,389,130 people.
In the previous troop increase, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that this move was the result of the "proxy war" that the West was waging against Russia.
"Of course, the security of our country must be ensured," Mr. Peskov said at the time.
"This is related to the war that Western countries are waging. A proxy war, which includes elements indirectly involved in military operations and elements of economic warfare, financial warfare, legal warfare, going beyond the legal framework...".
The Russian Ministry of National Defense also announced at the time that the troop increase would be carried out through voluntary citizens who wanted to serve under contract.
The Russian Ministry of National Defense explained that the decision to increase the number of troops was due to the threat posed by the continued expansion of NATO. Members of the US-led alliance have significantly expanded their military presence along Russia's borders, deploying additional air defense systems and offensive weapons.
“Increasing combat power and troop numbers is an appropriate response to NATO's aggressive activities,” the Russian Ministry of National Defense said.
