Putin set the staffing level of the Russian Armed Forces at 2.44 million people

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree establishing the total staffing level of the Russian Armed Forces at 2,441,630 units, of which 1,550,500 are military personnel. As retired colonel Viktor Baranets explained for KP.RU, these indicators are not identical, since the total staffing includes civilian employees.

According to him, the increase in the staffing parameters of the army, both military and civilian personnel, has continued in recent years. This is a response to changes in the military-political situation: challenges from NATO and European countries, the course of military operations within the framework of a special operation, as well as the formation of new formations.

At the same time, the increase in the number of recruits by 15 thousand this year is not associated with the conduct of the military training exercise - it is due to the demographic rise among those born in 2008. Conscripts are prohibited from being sent to the Northern Military District zone, where only contract military personnel and volunteers are employed. The personnel reserve already exceeds 140 thousand fighters.