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Russia will increase the number of active troops to 1.5 million on the grounds that the United States and its allies are waging a proxy war against Moscow. Photo/REUTERS
MOSCOW – the Kremlin said Russia will increase the number of active troops to 1.5 million personnel to ensure national security. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, this was done because United States of America (USA) and its allies waged a proxy war against Moscow.
The target for the number of active Russian troops was actually proposed by the Ministry of Defense in December 2022.
“Proxy wars include elements of indirect participation in military actions, elements of economic wars, financial wars, legal wars,” Peskov told journalists, Tuesday (17/1/2023), as quoted by Russia Today.
Peskov said it was the Defense Ministry’s job to ensure Russia’s security. According to him, “special tools” to achieve the proposed goals are still being worked on.
Also read: Wanting Russia to Beat, NATO Promises More Heavy Weapons for Ukraine
Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu proposed increasing the number of Russian troops in active military service to 1.5 million during a ministerial meeting on December 21, 2022, attended by President Vladimir Putin.
Shoigu said career soldiers and officers serving under contract should make up about 695,000 of that number, with the remainder enlisted through conscription.
During a Defense Ministry meeting on Tuesday, Shoigu said certain other military upgrades and changes were planned for between 2023 and 2026.
“Such measures are necessary to ensure the military security of the state, defending new (formerly Ukrainian territories) subjects and critical objects of the Russian Federation,” Shoigu said.
The Moscow and Leningrad military districts, which existed in the structure of the armed forces until 2010, will be returned as part of the move. Currently, there are five military districts in the country, the Western, Southern, Central, Eastern, and Northern Fleets.
Meanwhile, in a separate event, Putin welcomed the increase in military production that Russia had achieved last year.
“Defense contractors have switched to high speed and are constantly increasing production capacity,” president Putin said, adding that some manufacturers work most of the day.
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