Vladimir Putin ordered on Monday that the Russian military expand to 1.5million active troops. This would make the Russian army the second largest in the world after China.

According to Reuters, the decree will increase the number active troops by 180.000 as of December 1. The increase would bring the total number of Russian military personnel to 2.38 million.

The Russian military has expanded in size by a third, and the largest, official increment since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Putin increased the number of active soldiers by 137,000 in August 2022, and 170,000 in December 2023.

Russia’s military will surpass that of the U.S., India and China by the end of the year. According to the military think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies, Beijing has more than 2 million active soldiers.

1776 Coalition Sponsored The Trump victory isn’t enough If you think our 2nd Amendment Rights are safe now that Trump won, think again. Over a hundred Leftist groups have implemented a resistance movement against Trump’s reforms. They call it “Trump Proofing,” and if they succeed, conservatives will have lost. Join the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the fight stop the Left from “Trump Proofing” our 2A rights!

According to reports, President Joe Biden has finalized the latest expansion. This comes just days after Putin warned that the U.S. & NATO would be at risk of war if they removed restrictions on Ukraine using long-range missiles for deep-into Russia strikes. The Russian president will view this foreign policy, if finalized, as a major NATO escalation.

Putin said to a reporter from state television on Thursday that NATO, the U.S., and European countries would be at war with Russia. If this is the case, we will take appropriate decisions in light of the new threats created by this conflict.

Putin warned the West before about getting directly involved in the Russia – Ukraine war.

He threatened the U.S. in June after both countries had authorized Ukraine to fire munitions at Russia. The Russian president warned that if provoked, he would provide long-range weaponry to foreign enemies to attack Western targets.

Putin warned the West of nuclear war at least twice in the past year if it continued to aid Ukraine. In his second statement, Putin said that he did not believe U.S. policymakers were going to directly intervene in this war. He also stated that the military of his country was prepared for all scenarios.

Although the war began a decade before, it continues to rage on two years later. In early August, Ukraine invaded the Kursk region of Russia. It reclaimed Russian-controlled land and exchanged hundreds of prisoners. Russia responded by launching a counteroffensive against Ukraine last week.