MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Sept 16 ordered the regular size of the Russian army to increase by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million soldiers, the third time he has expanded its ranks since sending the military into Ukraine in February 2022.

In a decree published on the Kremlin’s website, Putin ordered the overall size of the armed forces to be increased to 2.38 million people, of which he said 1.5 million should be active servicemen.

Putin since 2022 has ordered two official increases in the number of combat troops — by 137,000 and 170,000, respectively.

In addition, Russia mobilised more than 300,000 soldiers in September and October 2022 in an exercise that prompted tens of thousands of draft-age men to flee the country.

But the Kremlin has said no new mobilisation is planned for now, and that the idea is to continue to rely on volunteers signing up to fight in Ukraine on lucrative contracts.

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