Putin orders further increase in authorised Russian military strength

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree increasing the authorised strength of the country’s armed forces by 15,500 personnel, according to the order published on Monday. The decree sets the total authorised strength of the Russian armed forces at 2,441,630 personnel, including 1,550,500 military personnel. It does not state why the increase was ordered.

The order is the fourth signed by Putin this year to enlarge the army. Decrees issued in March, June and July brought the combined increase since March to 47,860 soldiers. The move comes as Russia and Ukraine face continuing casualties in the war, which the source describes as having lasted more than four and a half years.

Russia’s battlefield advances have slowed this year, with widespread drone use making rapid, large-scale troop movements difficult. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of preparing another military call-up. Putin has rejected that suggestion as Ukrainian disinformation.

He last ordered a mobilisation of reservists in 2022, after a series of Russian battlefield setbacks. The decree did not announce a mobilisation or specify how the additional authorised positions would be filled. Separately, at least 13 people were killed in a fire at a fireworks factory in Russia’s western Yaroslavl region, Russian state media reported.

More than 100 emergency workers took part in efforts to extinguish the blaze. The village of Kubrinsk was cut off from the electricity grid and shops were closed, according to TASS. Investigators opened a criminal case over suspected workplace-safety violations at hazardous production facilities.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.