The news
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the country’s military to add 180,000 troopsincreasing the number of active troops to 1.5 million.
The expansion, the third since the invasion of Ukraine, would make Russia’s military the world’s second-largest in terms of manpower after China. It would take effect in December.
The move came as Moscow continued to push back against a Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s Kursk region. Maintaining such numbers could be a challenge The Russian budgetA Carnegie researcher argued: “Expanding the armed forces would require a significant investment in the production of new equipment, the recruitment of additional professional soldiers in a society newly accustomed to high wages and expensive social services and benefits, and the construction of new military base infrastructure. These expenditures would coincide with procurement pressures on an already bloated defense budget and an already strained male workforce.”
