Putin announced an increase in the authorized strength of the Russian Armed Forces to 1.5 million military personnel

The authorized strength of the Russian Armed Forces (AF) has been increased to 1.5 million people, and the army is developing general-purpose forces. This was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 16 at an enlarged meeting of the board of the Russian Defense Ministry.

"We pay serious attention to improving the combat composition of the armed forces, building up their capabilities. <...> The authorized strength of the armed forces has been raised to 1.5 million servicemen," Putin said.

He noted that the Leningrad and Moscow military districts have been created as part of the expansion of the army's capabilities.

The head of state noted that the Russian army and navy are being equipped with modern weapons at an accelerated pace. Putin pointed out that it was necessary to further develop the army and navy, to achieve the goals of the special operation to protect Donbass and to be ready to respond to possible challenges to Russia's security.

In addition, the president said that the share of the latest weapons in Russia's strategic nuclear forces has already reached 95%. Putin recalled that the Russian Federation specified the principles of the use of nuclear weapons in the updated foundations of the state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence.

Earlier, on September 16, Putin signed a decree, according to which the number of employees of the Russian Armed Forces increased to 2,389,130 people, 1.5 million of whom are military. Peskov, commenting on this, explained that such a move was due to the hostile situation near Russia's western borders and instability on its eastern borders.

Later, on November 19, Putin approved Russia's updated nuclear doctrine, which focuses on nuclear deterrence and specifies in which cases Moscow reserves the right to use such weapons.

Prior to that, on August 20, Putin stressed that the Russian Federation is now fighting neo-Nazis committing crimes in Kursk region, Novorossiya and Donbass. The president reminded that the Russian Federation, fighting against terrorism, had achieved its goals and would certainly solve its tasks by fighting against Nazi criminals.