Russian troops (Pixabay)
(ANTIWAR) – Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu on Wednesday unveiled a plan to increase the size of Russia’s military to 1.5 million troops, an initiative backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia had about 1 million troops in its army at the beginning of the year, and the number was supposed to reach 1.15 million next year, but Shoigu said a further increase is needed to “guarantee the fulfillment of tasks to ensure Russia’s security.”
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One reason for the increase that Shoigu cited was Sweden and Finland’s potential NATO membership. He said if the two Nordic nations joined the Western military alliance, Russia would have to deploy “the corresponding group of forces” to northwestern Russia.
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