Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million as the war in Ukraine enters its seventh month with no signs of abating.
The Russian president’s decree appears to be aimed at the country’s goal of replenishing its army, which has suffered heavy losses in Ukraine and failed to achieve its goal of capturing the capital, Kyiv.
The order, which will take effect Jan. 1, includes an increase of 137,000 combat troops to 1.15 million.
It marks a notable increase in military personnel since Russia last expanded the size of its military in 2017, when it added 13,698 military personnel and 5,357 non-combatants.
Russia does not publicly disclose how many casualties it has suffered in Ukraine, but in May the UK Ministry of Defense said Moscow had lost up to a third of its ground combat force since the start of the war.
CIA Director William Burns said last month that an estimated 15,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in Ukraine, “and maybe three times wounded.”
Moscow, which has so far chosen not to declare a general mobilization, has recently stepped up its efforts to recruit new soldiers, through what some experts have called a “covert mobilization.”
Russia’s regions have begun forming volunteer battalions, offering lucrative short-term contracts to men aged 18 to 60. Western intelligence has also said that private military companies, including the Wagner Group, are being used to bolster Russia’s frontline forces as the Kremlin fights back. shortage of troops.
Thursday’s decree did not specify how the staffing increase was to be carried out, but ordered the government to allocate the appropriate budget to the military.
Pavel Luzin, a Russian military expert, said Moscow would fight to increase the number of troops, saying “this decree is contrary to the objective reality on the ground.”
Putin’s order comes after a senior Russian diplomat told the Financial Times this week that Moscow sees no possibility of a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine and expects a protracted conflict.
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Similarly, Ukraine has ruled out peace talks, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowing to regain lost territory in the east and south of the country.
A Russian court on Thursday placed Yevgeny Roizman, an opposition politician who has been an outspoken critic of the invasion of Ukraine, under house arrest as he is investigated for “discrediting” the Russian military.
Roizman, the former mayor of Yekaterinburg, was arrested on Wednesday. He will be banned from leaving his home, attending public events or using the internet and can only communicate with close family, members, his lawyer and investigators.
The court stopped short of jailing him, possibly out of concern that his arrest could spark public protests in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city.