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Pjotr Sauer – The Guardian Aug 25, 2022

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, as the war in Ukraine enters its seventh month with no signs of abating.

The Russian president’s decree appears to point to the country’s aim to replenish its military, which has suffered heavy losses in Ukraine and failed to achieve its objective to capture the capital, Kyiv.

(Contrary to what the Guardian claims, there is absolutely NO evidence that Russia failed to capture Kiev, or as the Guardian spells it Kyiv. Beyond making a few modest armed reconnaissance forays on roads leading to Ukraine’s capital, Russia has concentrated its efforts on securing eastern Ukraine and the southern coastal regions.

The claim that Russia “failed to capture” Ukraine’s capital was probably suggested by Western intelligence to help create the impression that Russia’s military was flawed and failing. Thereby lulling the Western public into complaceny and preparing them psychologically for war with Russia. Ed.)

The order, which will come into effect on 1 January, includes a 137,000 rise in the number of combat personnel to 1.15 million.

It marks a noticeable increase in army personnel since the last time Russia expanded the size of its military in 2017, when it added 13,698 military personnel and 5,357 non-combatants.

Russia does not publicly disclose how many casualties it has suffered in Ukraine, but in May the UK Ministry of Defence said Moscow had lost as much as a third of its ground combat strength since the start of the war.

The CIA director, William Burns, last month said an estimated 15,000 Russian servicemen had died in Ukraine, “and maybe three times that wounded”.

Moscow, which has so far opted against declaring a general mobilisation, has recently intensified its efforts to recruit new soldiers, through what some experts have referred to as “covert mobilisation”.

Regions across Russia have started to form volunteer battalions, offering lucrative short-term contracts to men aged between 18 and 60. Western intelligence has also said private military companies, including the Wagner group, are being used to reinforce Russia’s frontline forces as the Kremlin faces troop shortages.

Thursday’s decree did not specify how the increase in headcount was to be conducted but ordered the government to assign the appropriate budget to the military.

Pavel Luzin, a Russian military expert, said Moscow would struggle to increase the number of soldiers, saying “this decree is contrary to the objective reality on the ground”.

Putin’s order comes after a senior Russian diplomat this week told the Financial Times that Moscow sees no possibility of a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine and expects a long conflict.

Ukraine has similarly ruled out peace talks, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowing to recapture lost territory in the country’s east and south.

Continues…