Kenneth Glad
Russia has approved another adjustment to the official size of its military, reflecting the growing importance of troop numbers in the prolonged conflict. The decision highlights Moscow’s effort to sustain its war effort while balancing recruitment pressures at home.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has turned manpower into a central challenge for both sides, with recruitment drives and heavy losses shaping military planning in Moscow and Kyiv. As fighting continues along a vast front line, both countries are watching troop numbers closely.
Against that backdrop, President Vladimir Putin has approved a new adjustment to the official size of Russia’s armed forces, reflecting Moscow’s effort to sustain the conflict while avoiding another politically sensitive nationwide mobilization.
Pressure on manpower
Ukrainian officials estimate that more than 700,000 Russian troops are currently deployed against Ukrainian forces along the front, according to RBC-Ukraine. Russian authorities have cited similar figures in public statements.
However, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi says the steady flow of new recruits is largely offsetting losses on the battlefield rather than significantly expanding Russia’s deployed force.
Ukrainian estimates cited by RBC-Ukraine suggest Russia recruited around 406,000 personnel during 2025 but lost roughly 419,000 troops in the same period, meaning the overall size of Russia’s frontline presence has remained broadly stable.
Syrskyi also warned that the Kremlin plans to recruit another 409,000 contract soldiers in 2026, with the aim of raising the Russian grouping in Ukraine to roughly 800,000 troops.
“Therefore, we have no other choice but to continue the fight and destroy the enemy,” Syrskyi said.
Digi24 reported that Moscow has increasingly relied on contract enlistment and financial incentives to sustain troop numbers while avoiding the political fallout that followed Russia’s partial mobilization in 2022.
Russia is also changing how it recruits personnel. According to the Romanian outlet, authorities plan to move toward year-round recruitment beginning in 2026 instead of relying mainly on traditional spring and autumn intake periods.
Although Russian law formally prohibits conscripts from serving abroad, reports cited by Digi24 indicate that some are encouraged or pressured to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry before being deployed to Ukraine.
New personnel decree
In parallel with those recruitment efforts, Putin signed a decree updating the authorized size of Russia’s armed forces. The document, dated March 4, 2026, was published on official Russian government legal portals, as reported by RBC-Ukraine.
The decree sets the authorized personnel level at 2,391,770 members of the armed forces, including 1,502,640 active-duty servicemen. The Ukrainian outlet writes that the previous decree from September 2024 listed 2,389,130 total personnel and 1.5 million active-duty troops.
The change therefore represents an increase of 2,640 personnel.
The Kyiv Independent noted furthermore that Russia has repeatedly revised the official size of its armed forces since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia ultimately aims to expand its military to about 2.5 million personnel by 2030, while urging European allies to develop larger joint defense capabilities.
Together, the recruitment plans and decree adjustments suggest Moscow is preparing for a prolonged war while trying to avoid another large-scale mobilization.
Sources: Digi24, RBC-Ukraine, Kyiv Independent
