Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000, the third time he has expanded its ranks since launching his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The increase would take the overall number of Russian military personnel to nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, according to the decree published by the Kremlin Monday. The new staffing will come into effect in December, it said.
Putin’s decree comes after Ukraine last month launched a lightning attack across the border on Russia’s southern Kursk region – the first foreign invasion of Russian territory since World War II. Last week, Russia stepped up its efforts to expel Ukrainian troops from Kursk and is inching forward toward the crucial Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas region.
Since 2022, Putin has ordered two previous expansions in the number of combat troops, in addition to a mobilization of military reservists and conscripts.
In August 2022, Putin ordered an increase of 137,000 troops by the start of the new year, which put the military’s staffing at just over 2 million personnel, including 1.15 million troops.
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