Russian army unveils number of contract servicemen

More than 640,000 people continue to serve in the Russian Armed Forces.

This is stated in the annual compilation of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation "Army in Figures" 2023, according to Kommersant.

Some 288,000 people applied for military service during the year.

The ministry added that more than 40,000 servicemen have taken part in Russia’s "special military operation" as part of the BARS (Combat Army Reserve of the Country) detachments, while over 7,000 are now deployed for combat missions in Ukraine.

"The increase in the full-time strength of the armed forces is due to the growing threats to our country associated with the special military operation and the ongoing expansion of NATO," the Russian defence ministry said.

BARS was founded in 2015 under President Vladimir Putin’s decree on the creation of a mobilisation reserve of the armed forces.

On December 1, Putin signed a decree to increase the maximum number of servicemen in the Russian armed forces by 170,000 people.

According to the document, the regular strength of the armed forces is now set at 1,320,000 servicemen.

Putin says that there is no need for another wave of mobilisation to fight in Ukraine as 486,000 people have already signed contracts with the Russian army against the planned 412,000.