Russia Plans to Expand Its Military to 1.5 Million Troops, Defense Minister Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a security council meeting via video conference in Moscow, Russia, on Dec. 21, 2022. Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Russia on Tuesday detailed its plans to increase the Russian armed forces to 1.5 million soldiers over the next few years.

The plans come amid deepening tensions between Moscow and the United States and its allies over the war in Ukraine.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the troop increase will occur between 2023 and 2026, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.

New military districts in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as an army corps in Karelia on the border with Finland, will be created under the program, The Wall Street Journal reported. The focus on Karelia comes after both Finland and Sweden have sought to join NATO.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior military officers in Moscow, Russia, on Dec. 21, 2022. Sergey Fadeichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Additionally, Shoigu said “self-sufficient” units will be set up in Russian-held territories of Ukraine.

Russia also aims to increase “the combat capabilities of the Navy, the Aerospace Forces, and the Strategic Rocket Forces,” TASS reported.

“Only by strengthening the key structural components of the Armed Forces is it possible to guarantee the military security of the state and protect new entities and critical facilities of the Russian Federation,” Shoigu said, according to Reuters.

The announcement comes as Moscow faces setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine since launching its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to TASS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the military expansion was a response to the “proxy war” that the West is waging against Russia in Ukraine.

He noted the West’s “indirect involvement in military activities and elements of an economic war, a financial war, legal warfare, steps that go beyond the legal field, and so on.”

The Russian military currently has about 1 million soldiers.

The Kremlin previously considered the size of its armed forces as sufficient for a quick victory over Ukraine, but that changed after facing fierce Ukrainian resistance.

Amid the war, Russia and Ukraine both have kept a tight lid of secrecy on their military casualties. The Russian military last reported its combat losses in September 2022, when it said 5,937 troops were killed, but the West had much higher estimates. In December 2022, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said 100,000 Russian troops were dead, wounded, or had deserted since the invasion began.

In August 2022, Putin ordered an increase in the size of the Russian military to 1.15 million starting on Jan. 1, 2023. And in September 2022, he ordered the mobilization of 300,000 reservists to beef up his forces in Ukraine. That number is counted as part of the military’s current strength.

The mobilization came on top of the regular draft, which calls up 120,000 to 140,000 men twice a year for a one-year tour of compulsory service.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.