The Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, proposed to boost the size of the armed forces by more than 30% from 1.15 million to 1.5 million servicemen.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Kremlin has intensified its information operation claiming NATO expansion presents a military threat to Russia.
Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu stated that NATO’s military expansion near Russian borders, including Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership aspirations, necessitated an "appropriate" Russian response to establish a force in northwestern Russia and significantly increase the size of the military.
He proposed to boost the size of the armed forces by more than 30% to 1.5 million servicemen from 1.15 million.
This was required "to guarantee the solving of problems related to Russia's military security", the minister said.
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