UK MoD claims Putin's move to increase Russian troops to 1.15 mn unlikely to have impact

The UK Ministry of Defence has announced that Russia's plan to increase the size of its armed forces is unlikely to have an effect on the conflict in Ukraine. A recent decree signed by Vladimir Putin would potentially add 137,000 more soldiers to the Russian armed forces, bringing their total to over 1.15 million.

However, the UK MoD claimed that the increase was unlikely to strengthen Russia's ability to engage in combat, in part due to ongoing losses. The UK Ministry stated in one of its regular updates on the war that it was unclear whether the planned increase would be achieved by increasing conscription or by recruiting more volunteers.

However, any increase was unlikely to have an effect on Ukraine as Russia has lost tens of thousands of its troops in the war. The Ministry further added that recruiting for new contract (i.e., non-conscript) service members is extremely low. According to the UK MoD, conscripts are not legally required to serve outside of Russian territory.

Russian President Putin's order coincided with a military recruitment drive. According to media reports, recruiters have even visited prisons, promising inmates freedom and money. Russia currently has a limit of slightly more than a million military personnel, plus nearly 900,000 civilian personnel.

Russia-Ukraine war update

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine six months ago, between 70,000 and 80,000 soldiers have died or been injured, according to Western officials. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February was intended to be a swift and decisive campaign. However, Ukrainian resistance slowed Russia's advance, and the front lines have made little progress in recent weeks, reports claimed.

Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are currently required to serve in the military, though many are able to avoid or shorten their obligations—typically by one year—through medical exemptions or by enrolling in higher education. Over the past 24 hours, Ukraine has accused Russian forces of once again shelling the grounds of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Moscow, however, counters that the plant has been shelled by Ukrainian forces. Petro Kotin of Enerhoatom, the plant's Ukrainian operator, has issued a warning that radiation may be released locally if missiles strike the spent fuel kept next to the reactors. 

Image: AP