Putin orders Russian military to increase its forces

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Thursday increasing the size of his country’s armed forces, as the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine passed six months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Thursday increasing the size of his country’s armed forces by 137,000, as the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine passed the six-month mark.  

Putin’s decree will increase the number of combat personnel in the Russian armed forces by about 10%, up from 1.01 million to 1.15 million. That will take the total head count of the military to 2.04 million.

A copy of the order on a Russian government website says it comes into effect Jan. 1, 2023.  It was published online and reported on by Russian state media, but no reason for the boost in troop numbers was immediately given.

It comes just a day after Putin’s defense chief acknowledged the Russian military campaign in Ukraine has stalled. 

Russian forces failed to capture the capital, Kyiv, but now control large swaths of Ukraine’s south and east, where Moscow has refocused most of its forces in the industrial Donbas region. But military observers have said the Russian military appears demoralized and understaffed, while recent progress in the east has been incremental. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-orders-increase-russian-armed-forces-ukraine-war-rcna44774

---