THE NUMBER OF SOLDIERS EXCEEDED 1.55 MILLION
Putin’s decree dated September 28, 2026 added 15,500 new cadres to the army. Thus, the total personnel increased to 2 million 441 thousand 630 and the number of soldiers increased to 1 million 550 thousand 500. With four increases in March, June, July and September, a new cadre of 50,500 soldiers was opened in 2026 alone.
THE FIRST GROWTH WAS THE MOBILIZATION OF 300 THOUSAND PEOPLE
Putin decided to increase the number of soldiers by 137 thousand in the first year of the war; In September 2022, more than 300 thousand reserve soldiers were recruited with partial mobilization after losses on the front. This was Russia’s first major military mobilization after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
THE ARMY HAS TRANSFORMED INTO A GIANT POWER
By adding 170 thousand more people to its military staff in 2023 and 180 thousand more in September 2024, Moscow increased its active soldier target to 1.5 million. According to IISS data, this figure made Russia one of the largest armies in the world, after China, in terms of active military personnel.
TRANSITION TO FULL NUCLEAR DOCTRINE
After Finland joined NATO, Moscow re-created the Leningrad and Moscow military districts to strengthen its northwestern borders. In November 2024, the nuclear doctrine was also changed, paving the way for an attack by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear state to be considered a joint attack. Russia described this as a “new deterrence concept”.
