Russia’s army will soon become the world’s second-largest army behind China, leapfrogging the size of the U.S. and India armies.
President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the army’s size to be increased by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million active servicemen, a move that would take its overall size to 2.38 million people, Reuters reported.
This is the third time since the war with Ukraine began in February 2022 that Russia expanded the size of its army. This is happening as Russian forces advance in eastern Ukraine and try to expel Ukrainian forces from Russia’s Kursk region.
Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of Russia’s lower house of parliament’s defence committee, said the army expansion is part of a plan to revamp the armed forces and increase their size to match the international situation and behavior of “our former foreign partners.”
Since 2022, Putin has boosted the number of combat troops by 137,000 and then 170,000.
Russia has also mobilized over 300,000 soldiers in September and October 2022 in an exercise that prompted tens of thousands of draft-age men to leave the country.
The Kremlin said it has no new mobilization planned for now and will keep relying on volunteers signing up to fight in Ukraine.
Adding more troops to its army will require Russia to boost its defense budget and possibly expand the draft size or change the law to allow more women to work in the military.
Price Action: Defense contractors trended upward on Monday.
- RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) gained 0.07% to $119.20
- Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE:NOC) rose 0.29% to $521.27
- Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) edged up 0.54% to $572.92
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