Russian leader Putin commands expansion of military force by incorporating 180,000 additional soldiers, raising total force to 1.5 million troops.
The enlargement would bring the total number of Russian armed forces personnel close to 2.4 million, consisting of 1.5 million soldiers, as per the declaration announced by the Kremlin on Monday. The new reinforcements are set to commence in December, as indicated by the statement.
Putin's announcement follows Ukraine's swift attack across the border into Russia's southern Kursk region last month – the first foreign invasion of Russian land since World War II. Russia has been intensifying its efforts to expel Ukrainian troops from Kursk and is gradually approaching the strategically vital Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas region.
Since 2022, Putin has ordered two preceding expansions of combat troops, alongside the mobilization of military reserve forces and conscripts.
In August 2022, Putin ordered the addition of an extra 137,000 troops before the New Year, elevating the military strength to around 2 million personnel, including 1.15 million troops.
In the aftermath of a sudden and successful Ukrainian offensive that liberated most of the eastern Kharkiv region, Putin issued an immediate partial mobilization order for Russian citizens with military experience, thereby triggering conscription and the potential call-up of military reservists.
This mobilization led to mass exoduses – with hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighboring Georgia and other ex-communist nations bordering Russia – and sparked protests, predominantly in ethnic minority regions that have endured the brunt of past recruitment drives.
The mobilization was halted in November 2023 after officials claimed that the goal of recruiting 300,000 personnel had been achieved.
Then in December, Putin issued another decree for the official expansion of 170,000 troops, increasing the total to 1.32 million.
Russia's casualty statistics remain cloaked in mystery. In September 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu disclosed that 5,937 troops had been killed in the conflict. The ministry has not unveiled any updated figures since.
Ukrainian and Western intelligence agencies, however, put the casualty figures much higher. The General Staff of Ukraine's military recently published an update, stating that Russia has suffered the loss of 616,300 troops. Additionally, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense estimates that Russia has sustained over 610,000 casualties.
“Russia’s casualty rate is expected to maintain an average of over 1,000 a day throughout September 2024 as Russia continues operations on a wide front from Kursk in the north to Robotyne in the south,” it concluded.
The enlargement of Russian armed forces, as announced by Putin, could potentially impact the world's geopolitical landscape, especially in Europe. Russia's military operations have been predominantly focused on regions like Kursk and Pokrovsk, which are situated in Europe.
