The decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin last August to increase the military personnel of Russia’s Armed Forces by 137,000 in the wake of the war in Ukraine came into force on Sunday.
According to the decree published on Russia’s legal information portal, the Russian Armed Forces will increase to 2,039,758 personnel, of which 1,150,628 are military personnel, as reported by the TASS news agency.
On the eve, Putin assured in a New Year’s speech that it has been a 2022 marked by a «real war of sanctions» against Moscow. «Those who started it expected the total destruction of our industry, finance, transport. This did not happen,» he has said.
In this regard, he stressed that «the most important steps towards obtaining full sovereignty of Russia» have been taken, so now Moscow is protecting its population in its «historical territories» and the «new constituent entities of the Russian Federation», in a clear reference to the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporiyia.
«The West lied about peace, but was preparing for aggression, and today openly, shamelessly admits it, and cynically uses Ukraine and its people to weaken and divide Russia,» Putin said.
In this regard, he added that «Western elites» have encouraged «neo-Nazis, who continue to carry out openly terrorist acts against civilians in the Donbas region,» Interfax news agency reported.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
