Putin Mandates Recruitment of 180,000 Soldiers as Ukraine Conflict Intensifies

Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree to bolster the country's military ranks by recruiting an additional 180,000 soldiers.

This directive, which will take effect on December 1, 2024, aims to increase the total number of Russian troops to 1.5 million, bringing the overall military personnel count to approximately 2.4 million.

The decree was published on the official government website on September 16, 2024. It marks the second troop increase within a year, following a previous decree in December that set the total number of military personnel at around 2.2 million, including 1.32 million troops.

The Russian government has been instructed to secure the necessary funding to support this expansion. This recruitment drive comes as Russia's most trained troops have been making gradual but consistent gains in eastern Ukraine over the past few months. However, Ukrainian forces continue to hold positions in Russia's Kursk region, highlighting the ongoing challenges faced by Russian military operations.

In June, President Putin disclosed that nearly 700,000 troops were involved in what the Kremlin refers to as the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Following Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the fall of 2022, Russia called up 300,000 reservists and has since relied on volunteers and prisoners to fill its ranks, attracted by relatively high wages and the possibility of gaining their freedom.

Despite these efforts, the shortage of military personnel has been widely cited as a key reason behind Ukraine’s successful incursion into Russia’s Kursk region launched on August 6.

This latest recruitment order shows the ongoing strain on Russian military resources and the broader implications for regional stability. As one anonymous commenter remarked, "I hope Putin's children will be recruited into the army too... with his desire for war and not peaceful resolution of conflict."