On January 1, 2023, the presidential decree on increasing the staffing of the Russian Armed Forces, which Vladimir Putin signed on August 25, 2022, came into force.
According to the document, the staff strength of the RF Armed Forces is set at around 2,039,758 people (including civilian specialists), including 1,150,628 military personnel.
The indicator increases by 137 thousand people (7.2%) due to an increase in the number of military personnel.
The government was instructed to allocate the necessary funds from the federal budget.
The previous authorized strength of the RF Armed Forces was determined by a presidential decree of November 17, 2017, which came into force in January 2018.
Then the indicator was set at 1,902,758 people, including 1,013,628 military personnel.
The number of military personnel in the Armed Forces has not changed significantly since December 2008, when it was reduced from 1.13 million to 1 million people.
In December 2022, the head of the Russian defense department, Sergei Shoigu, said that in order to guarantee the solution of the tasks of ensuring the military security of the Russian Federation, the number of military personnel in the Armed Forces must be increased to 1.5 million, including contract servicemen - up to 695 thousand people.
During the final meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense, he clarified that by the end of 2023 it is planned to increase the number of military personnel under the contract to 521 thousand people (taking into account the replacement of mobilized Russians in the groupings of troops and the recruitment of new formations).
Putin congratulated the Russians on the New Year
In his New Year's address to the Russians, Vladimir Putin stated that 2022 has become a period of "truly turning, fateful events" that have become a milestone that lays the foundation for "our common future" and the country's true independence.
“For this today we are fighting, protecting our people in our own historical territories in the new subjects of the Russian Federation.
Together we build and create,” the President said.
“It was a year that put a lot in its place, clearly separated courage and heroism from betrayal and cowardice, showed that there is no higher power than love for one’s family and friends, loyalty to friends and comrades, devotion to one’s Fatherland,” he added. .
As the head of state noted, the Western elites “for years hypocritically assured us all of their peaceful intentions,” but in fact the West was preparing for aggression and today “admits it no longer embarrassed.”
Putin continued by emphasizing that Ukraine and its people are being cynically used to weaken and split Russia.
Also on russian.rt.com Vladimir Putin's New Year's address
“Russian servicemen, militias, volunteers are now fighting for their native land, for truth and justice, for guarantees of peace and security for Russia to be reliably provided.
They are all our heroes.
It is the most difficult for them now,” the President said.
At the same time, Putin noted that the Russian Federation survived the sanctions war declared to it due to the fact that the Russians all together created a reliable margin of safety.
“What we have done and are doing in this area is all aimed at strengthening our sovereignty in the most important area - in the economy,” the head of state explained.
He also stressed that Russia's struggle "for itself, for its interests and for its future" serves as an inspiring example for other countries in their pursuit of a just multipolar world order.