Putin expands the size of Russia’s army for the sixth time since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree raising the army’s authorized size to 2,426,130 personnel, with service members now numbering 1,535,000, up from 1,510,000. The decree takes effect August 1 and ties the change to the creation of military construction units within the Russian Armed Forces. A little more than a month earlier, Putin had signed the previous decree, which raised the army’s authorized size to 2,399,130 personnel. The reason for that increase was not specified.