Putin orders military to boost troop numbers by 180,000 to 1.5 million as Ukraine fighting continues

Source: Associated Press

Putin orders military to boost troop numbers by 180,000 to 1.5 million as Ukraine fighting continues

Updated 8:47 AM EDT, September 16, 2024

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million, as Moscow’s military action in Ukraine drags on for more than 2 ½ years.

Putin’s decree, published on the official government website, will take effect Dec. 1. It sets the overall number of Russian military personnel at nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, and orders the government to provide the necessary funding.

The previous increase in Russian troop numbers came last December, when a decree by Putin set the total number of Russian military personnel at about 2.2 million, including 1.32 million troops.

The most capable Russian troops have been pressing an offensive in eastern Ukraine, where they have made incremental but steady gains in the past few months.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-military-numbers-9c5554302486adfe7b3d69cb297f8a98