Putin increases the size of the Russian army for the fourth time in a year

President of Russia Vladimir Putin has increased the authorized strength of the Russian Armed Forces for the fourth time since the beginning of 2026. It is now set at 2,441,630 people, of which 1,550,500 are military personnel.

Putin signed the relevant decree on September 28. The document was noticed by “Agentstvo. Novosti.” The decree came into force on the day of signing.

Compared to the previous decision, the number of military personnel themselves increased by 15.5 thousand people. The Government of the Russian Federation was instructed to provide additional budget allocations to the Ministry of Defense to finance the expanded staff.

The previous time Putin increased the Russian army was just two months ago — on July 27. At that time, the total authorized strength was brought to 2,426,130 people, including 1,535,000 military personnel.

Before that, the size of the army was changed two more times during 2026. In March it was 2,391,770 people, of whom 1,502,640 were military personnel. In June, the number of military personnel was increased to 1,510,000, and the total authorized strength to 2,399,130 people.

Thus, only since March, the number of military personnel according to Russian staffing tables has increased by 47,860 people — from 1,502,640 to 1,550,500.

The pace of army expansion in 2026 has noticeably accelerated. In the period from the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine until the end of 2025, Putin raised the established size of the Russian Armed Forces three times — in August 2022, December 2023, and September 2024.

In September 2024, the staffing of the Russian Armed Forces was set at 2,389,130 people, including 1.5 million military personnel. For comparison, before the full-scale war, the figure was 1,902,758 staff units, of which 1,013,628 were military personnel.

Thus, since the beginning of the full-scale war, the established number of Russian military personnel has increased by more than half a million people.

Based on materials from: “Agentstvo. Novosti”, The Insider.