“The approach is very powerful”: Russia is rapidly changing the structure and number of troops
The size of the Russian army should be increased to 1,5 million people.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated this today at a meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“To ensure a guaranteed solution to the tasks of ensuring the military security of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to increase the size of the Armed Forces to one and a half million military personnel, including contract military personnel - up to 695 thousand people.
Considering NATO’s desire to increase its military potential near Russian borders, as well as to expand the North Atlantic Alliance at the expense of Finland and Sweden, response measures are required to create an appropriate group of troops in north-west Russia,” Shoigu said.
To solve this problem, the minister proposed to gradually increase the initial age of conscription of citizens from 18 to 21 years, and raise the maximum age to 30 years. Ensure that citizens have the opportunity, if they so wish, to enter military service under a contract from the first day of joining the service.
It is also proposed to create the Moscow and Leningrad military districts, form three motorized rifle divisions, including in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as an army corps in Karelia, and reorganize seven motorized rifle brigades in the Western, Central, Eastern military districts and in the Northern Fleet into motorized rifle divisions. The Airborne Forces need to additionally form two air assault divisions.
For each combined arms (tank) army, maintain a mixed aviation division and an army aviation brigade, numbering 80–100 combat helicopters. In addition, to additionally form three air division directorates, eight bomber aviation regiments, one fighter aviation regiment, and six army aviation brigades. Form five artillery divisions of military districts, as well as high-power artillery brigades. Form five marine divisions in the coastal forces of the Navy on the basis of existing marine brigades.
“If I understand something about military-political issues (and I do understand something about them), this is the deployment of a group for a major regional conflict (KRC) and one smaller-scale operation. In general, this is a strong “containment signal” to Washington: we will be ready for escalation before you, and at a very difficult moment for Washington. The approach is very powerful for those who understand,” HSE Professor Dmitry Evstafiev commented on the minister’s words in his TG channel.
“The age of conscription for military service will increase to 30 years, the size of the army will increase to 1,5 million people, today there are about 900 thousand people. Now even graduate students will not be able to avoid service. The army needs smart people. The issue of increasing the service life to 2 years has not yet been publicly discussed, but there is nothing to discuss here. It is clear that real “universal conscription” will return, as in 1986, and 2 years of military service,” writes journalist Sergei Mardan.
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