Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Sept. 16 increasing the number of the Russian Armed Forces from roughly 2.2 million to 2,389,130 people, including 1.5 million military personnel.
The decree will take effect on Dec. 1, 2024, and will increase the total number of Russian military personnel and staff by 180,000.
The last time the staffing level was increased was in December 2023. It amounted to 2,209,130 people, including 1,320,000 military personnel.
In August 2022, six months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started, the number of personnel in the Russian Armed Forces increased to 1,150,628.
The 2017 decree was in force at that time, according to which the staff should have been 1,013,628, a figure relevant at the time of the outbreak of full-scale war.
Russia conscripted around 300,000 reservists during a limited mobilization in September 2022 but has sought to avoid a wide-sweeping draft, often targeting recruits from economically weaker regions or migrants.
Ukraine believes that Russia continues to covertly recruit around 30,000 soldiers monthly, allowing the Russian military to balance out its losses.
While Moscow does not publish its casualty figures, Kyiv believes that Russian losses have exceeded over 630,000 soldiers killed, wounded, or captured as of September.
Oleg Sukhov
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