NATO official: Russia’s land forces bigger but weaker than in Feb 2022

Russia's land forces are bigger now than at the time of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but their quality has decreased since, a NATO top military official said on November 25.

"The quality of those forces has gone down," Chair of NATO's Military Committee, Dutchman Admiral Rob Bauer, said, pointing to the state of the force's equipment and the level of training of its soldiers, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

He pointed out the state of equipment of the forces and the level of training of the soldiers.

"At the moment, the Russians are not the same threat as in February 2022, so we have a bit of time to prepare ourselves," he said, adding that this meant ramping up investments into the defence industry.

Notably, on September 16, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree increasing the number of the Russian Armed Forces from roughly 2.2 million to 2,389,130 people, including 1.5 million military personnel. The decree will take effect on December 1, 2024, and will increase the total number of Russian military personnel and staff by 180,000.

The last time the staffing level was increased was in December 2023. It amounted to 2,209,130 people, including 1,320,000 military personnel. In August 2022, six months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started, the number of personnel in the Russian Armed Forces increased to 1,150,628.

In September 2022, Russia conscripted around 300,000 reservists during a limited mobilisation in but has sought to avoid a wide-sweeping draft, often targeting recruits from economically weaker regions or migrants.

By Khagan Isayev