Vladimir Putin orders massive expansion of Russian military amid mounting war casualties

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a significant expansion of the military, increasing troop numbers by 180,000, bringing the total to 1.5 million soldiers. This marks the third time Putin has boosted military ranks since the start of the Ukraine invasion in February 2022.

According to a Kremlin decree released Monday, the new staffing levels will come into effect in December, pushing the overall number of Russian military personnel to nearly 2.4 million.

The expansion comes as Russia faces mounting losses and intensifying combat along its frontlines, particularly after Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia’s southern Kursk region—the first foreign invasion of Russian soil since World War II. Russia is also advancing toward Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

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Since 2022, Putin has ordered previous troop increases, including the addition of 137,000 troops in August and a “partial mobilization” of reservists and conscripts in response to Ukrainian advances in Kharkiv. The mobilization led to widespread protests and prompted hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee the country.

Russia’s official casualty figures remain undisclosed, with the last update in September 2022 reporting 5,937 deaths. However, Ukrainian and Western intelligence estimates place Russian casualties at over 600,000. The UK’s Ministry of Defense recently projected that Russia’s losses could continue to exceed 1,000 soldiers per day as fighting escalates across multiple fronts.