During the Defense Ministry Board meeting on Dec. 21, Russian Defense Minister Seregi Shoigu reported that an expansion of the Russian military by about 50%, from 1 million troops to 1.5 million, is in progress. Along with such an expansion of personnel comes an expansion of the military force structure, which Shoigu listed. This includes two new motorized infantry divisions in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions; the transformation of seven motorized infantry brigades in the Western, Central and Military Districts into divisions; two more air assault divisions in the Airborne Forces; the Air Forces need three more air division commands, including eight bomber aviation regiments, one fighter aviation regiment, and six army aviation brigades, in addition to a combined aviation division assigned to each combined arms army. Shoigu also called for a large expansion of the artillery strength of the Ground Forces, and the addition of five naval infantry brigades for coastal defense.
“In order to guarantee that the military can ensure Russia’s security, we need to increase the size of the Armed Forces to 1.5 million service personnel, including up to 695,000 people serving under contract,” Shoigu said.
