Putin orders major Russian military expansion as Ukraine conflict intensifies

The News

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s military Monday to add 180,000 troops, bolstering its active-duty forces to 1.5 million.

The expansion, the third since the Ukraine invasion, would make Russia’s military the second largest in the world in terms of manpower after China. It is set to take effect in December.

The move came as Moscow continued to push back against a Ukraine offensive in Russia’s Kursk region: Putin said Tuesday the expansion was necessary to “address growing threats on Russia’s western borders and instability to the east,” Reuters reported.

SIGNALS

Adding troops could deplete Russia’s already-strained budget

Sources: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Dara Massicot/X

The military expansion could strain Russia’s budget, a Carnegie researcher argued, and even require a significant reorganization of the country’s economy: It would need new equipment and larger military bases, and recruiting more soldiers may not be easy “in a society that has recently grown accustomed to high wages and expensive social entitlements and benefits.” The expansion may be a temporary wartime solution rather than a long-term change, the researcher noted on X, and after the conflict, it may make sense financially for Russia to reduce its troop numbers to one million.

Russia has to balance more military recruitment with worker shortages

Sources: Euronews, Meduza

Russia’s model for military recruitment during the war has been a mix of mobilization and hiring, Euronews noted. The effort has come at a cost for the government, which is estimated to have spent about $33 billion in one year to pay participants in the war and their families. While the high wages have made enrolling attractive for some Russians, the army competes with the private military industry, which also needs workers and provides better conditions, an expert told the outlet. The country has also had to grapple with labor shortages in other critical sectors, like the police force, Meduza reported, as more people join the army to make a higher income.

Russia’s ‘meat grinder’ military tactic comes at heavy human cost

Source: BBC

Casualties for the Russian army have increased in the second year of the war, reaching 50,000 as of April, the BBC reported — “a reflection of how territorial gains have come at a huge human cost.” Russia has adopted a tactic described as “meat grinder,” which involves sending troops to the front lines continuously to wear down Ukrainian forces. The BBC estimated at least 20% of the fatalities suffered by the Russian army affected inexperienced personnel recruited to bolster the ranks, as more professional soldiers had already been killed or wounded in the conflict.