MOSCOW (Realist English). The Russian Army should become larger. The need to increase it was stated by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev in an interview with Russian media.
“Our army should become larger. And its numerical parameters have been announced — it is at least 1.5 million people,” Medvedev stressed in an interview, a fragment of which the politician published in his telegram channel.
According to the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, for “successful defense”, a “mixed army based on both conscription and contract” should operate in Russia.
In January of this year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a meeting on increasing the size of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation said that the large-scale changes in the Russian army announced in December 2022, including an increase in its strength to 1.5 million people, will be implemented by 2026.