Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 25, 2022
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Putin orders Russian military to add 140,000 soldiers in 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the development of the country's metallurgical sector via a video conference at the Kremlin in Moscow on August 1, 2022. (Pavel Byrkin / Sputnik / AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to increase the size of the country’s armed forces by 137,000 amid Moscow’s military action in Ukraine.
Putin’s decree signed today doesn’t explain whether the military will beef up its ranks by drafting a bigger number of conscripts, by increasing the number of volunteer soldiers, or using a combination of both.
The Kremlin has said that only volunteer contract soldiers take part in what it calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine, rejecting claims that it is pondering a broad mobilization.
