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| President Vladimir Putin Issues Decree To Add 137,000 Russian Troops By 2023 |
Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree to increase the number of armed forces by 137,000 people. The decision will take effect on January 1, 2023.
According to the decree, the standard strength of the Russian Armed Forces next year will be set at 2,039,758, including 1,150,628 soldiers. With the issuance of this new decree, the previous decree which has been in effect since January 1, 2018 is declared no longer valid. The old decree states that the strength of the Russian Armed Forces is 1,902,758 personnel including 1,013,628 soldiers.
The Russian Ministry of Defense will not abolish conscription. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the number of contract servicemen in the Russian Armed Forces at the end of 2015 reached 352,000 people.
For the first time this number exceeds the number of conscripted soldiers and sailors by 297,000. The Russian Defense Ministry's plans for 2019-2025 include increasing the number of contract servicemen to 475,600.