Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree to expand the country's military forces by an additional 180,000 troops, marking the third increase in troop numbers since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This decision will bring the total number of Russian military personnel to nearly 2.4 million, with 1.5 million being combat troops. The decree, published by the Kremlin, states that the new staffing will be implemented in December.
The move comes in response to Ukraine's recent incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region, the first foreign invasion of Russian territory since World War II. Russia has intensified its efforts to push back Ukrainian forces from Kursk and advance towards the key Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas region.
