Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the need to increase the number of Russian armed forces to 1.5 million military personnel. In particular, he proposed to increase the number of contractors to 695,000.. President Vladimir Putin approved these proposals.

During his speech at a meeting of the military board of the Russian Federation on December 21, Shoigu made the statement that "

According to him, the mobilization was necessary to continue the offensive in Ukraine..

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He added that the "

For these purposes, Russia has postponed the delivery of the most popular types of weapons from 2024-2025 to 2023.

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Also, Russia is going to create a group of troops near Finland and Sweden " In general, the Russian Ministry of Defense plans to form three motorized rifle divisions, including in the occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as an army corps in Karelia.

Recall that at present, the authorized strength of the occupying troops, determined for 2023, is 1,150,626 people..

Previously, Putin promised the Russian army funding without restrictions.