Putin signs decree to increase military personnel to 1.5 mln

MOSCOW, Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s military to expand to 1.5 million active troops, bringing the total military personnel to nearly 2.4 million, according to a decree dated Monday.

The decree, which will take effect on Dec. 1, would increase the number of active troops by 180,000. It marks Putin’s third official expansion of Russia’s military since the war with Ukraine began in early 2022.

In August 2022, Putin ordered the military to expand by the start of the next year, adding 137,000 troops, bringing the total to 1.15 million. In December 2023, Putin ordered another official expansion of 170,000 active troops, bringing the total to 1.32 million.

The latest expansion comes as the battle with Ukraine intensifies. Ukraine invaded Russia’s Kursk region in early August, capturing miles of territory and hundreds of prisoners. Russia has fought back and vowed to clear Ukraine from the area.

The incursion, however, has increased pressure on the Biden administration to reverse its long-held policy preventing Ukraine from using Western weapons to hit deep inside Russia. Recent reports have indicated President Biden is close to letting Ukraine use long-range missiles.

Putin warned that such a reversal in policy would be seen as a major escalation from NATO.

“This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict,” Putin said Thursday. “It would mean that NATO countries, the U.S., European countries, are at war with Russia.”

“If that’s the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face,” Putin said to a state television reporter.