President Putin Adds 15,500 Troops to Russian Army as Ukraine War Continues

(Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo Credit: British Intel)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree raising the size of the army by 15,500 troops, the fourth such order this year.

The armed forces now stand at 2,441,630 personnel, including 1,550,500 military personnel.

Putin had already signed similar orders in March, June and July.

Together, the increases since March come to 47,860 troops.

He gave no reason for the latest move, which comes as losses rise on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides in the war, Euronews reported.

The pace of Russian advances has slowed this year because heavy drone use makes it almost impossible to move large formations quickly.

Reports of Ukrainian breakthroughs on some parts of the front have also emerged in recent weeks.

Putin last announced a partial mobilisation of reservists in September 2022, after a string of battlefield setbacks, and that decree is still in force.

In August, Ukrainian intelligence said Moscow planned to call up as many as 300,000 people this year for the front, and the same number next year.

Some analysts predicted a fresh wave of mobilisation this autumn right after the State Duma elections.

The fear caused panic among Russians and raised interest in emigrating.

Putin dismissed the talk as complete nonsense.

The Kremlin says contract soldiers and volunteers are meeting the army's needs, while independent analysts say the number of people willing to sign up keeps falling despite big cash rewards.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia has already started extra mobilisation by widening recruitment through different methods.

He said Moscow also plans to bring in more foreign fighters and urged the governments of countries where Russia recruits to stop it.

In a video posted on online, he added that he has new information that North Korea is preparing to send another 10,000 troops to Russia, on top of the 8,000 already there.