Increase in numbers and new principles of recruitment: latest decisions in the field of recruitment of the armed forces
Given current and future threats to national security and defense needs, Russia's military and political leadership is developing its armed forces in a variety of ways. In particular, an increase in the size of the army is planned, and some principles for recruiting military personnel must also change. Some decisions in this area have already been made and are being prepared for implementation, while others are still at the preparation stage.
Strength issues
On December 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree establishing the regular strength of the armed forces. According to this document, their total number should be increased to 2209130 people. The number of military personnel will increase to 1320000 people. The government has been instructed to provide the Ministry of Defense with the necessary funding. The decree came into force from the date of its signing.
This is not the first decree of this kind issued over several years. At the same time, it is the last two decrees that are of particular interest - the previous one, dated August 25, 2022, and the new one, dated December 1, 2023. Unlike other similar documents, these decrees were issued after the start of the Special Operation to protect Donbass and take into account the current needs and capabilities of the army .
It should be recalled that from January 1, 2018, in accordance with the decree of November 17, 2017, the authorized strength of the Armed Forces was 1902758 people, including 1013628 military personnel. Last year's decree, which came into force on January 1, 2023, increased the size of the army to 2039758 people, incl. 1150628 military personnel. At the same time, both indicators increased due to an increase in the number of military personnel by 137 thousand people.
The new decree, already accepted for execution, provides for an increase in the total number of armed forces by approx. 170 thousand military personnel. An increase in the number of civilian personnel is again not envisaged.
The two most recent increases in the size of the armed forces are due to a number of well-known factors. This is the need to continue hostilities within the current Special Operation, the need to control and protect new regions, as well as a large flow of volunteers. It is not difficult to calculate that, as a result of the two decrees, the number of armed forces will increase by 300 thousand people. - This is almost a third of the number of military personnel who were in service before the beginning of last year.
New requirements
Earlier this year, amendments to the Law on Conscription and Military Service were adopted, changing the age of conscription. On November 24, the Russian government issued a decree making appropriate adjustments to the Regulations on conscription for military service, the Regulations on military registration and the Regulations on military medical examination.
In accordance with these documents, from January 1, 2024, the age of conscripts will change. People will still be allowed to join the army from the age of 18, but the maximum conscription age will be raised to 30 years. There are plans for further changes. The need to raise the lower limit to 21 years of age was mentioned, but this will be done later.
It is also now planned to change the requirements for conscripts. On November 28, a document from the Ministry of Defense “On Amendments to the Regulations on Military Medical Examination” appeared on the Federal Portal of Draft Regulatory Legal Acts. The text of this project has not yet been published, but its card contains all the basic information about its goals and objectives, possible deadlines, etc.
According to published data, new changes will affect citizens conscripted for military service, accepted for contract work, entering military universities, etc. It is proposed to improve the system of medical examination of persons with diseases that do not have a significant impact on the ability to serve. How exactly the inspection principles will be revised, what requirements will be softened or tightened, is not specified.
At the moment, the Federal Project Portal invites citizens to submit their proposals. Then new stages of document preparation will begin. It is reported that, as a result of these events, changes will be made to the Regulations on military medical examination. They will tentatively come into force in December 2024.
It is expected that a reasonable relaxation of health requirements will increase the volume of personnel recruitment. A larger number and greater percentage of conscripts and volunteers will be able to undergo a military medical examination and join the armed forces. The task of increasing the number of the latter will be solved faster and more efficiently.
Rejected offer
There is another way to increase the size of the army and bring it to the required level. Thus, on December 3, State Duma deputy and retired general Andrei Gurulev proposed in his blog the return of military service lasting two years. He called the positive consequences of this a general increase in the number of conscripts with the same number of conscripts, as well as an increase in the quality of training of mobilization resources.
On the same day, this idea was supported by another deputy and general Viktor Sobolev. He believes that a soldier should undergo training for the first six months of service, and serve directly in the troops for the next year and a half. In this case, according to the deputy, the troops will become truly combat-ready.
A. Gurulev and V. Sobolev are members of the Duma Committee on Defense. On December 4, their proposals were commented on by the chairman of the committee, Andrei Kartapolov. He noted that the need to increase service life is solely the personal opinion of his colleagues, and the committee does not share such ideas. Today, there is simply no need for such measures - from the point of view of national security, economics and simple logic.
In addition, A. Kartapolov stated that there are no plans to increase the number of regular positions in the Armed Forces. In this regard, if the service life increases, the renewal of personnel will slow down, and the army will prepare half as much military resources. At the same time, existing training programs provide training for soldiers in the first six months of service.
Thus, the possibility of changing the length of service for conscripts is discussed only privately by individuals. Official structures do not even consider such a scenario and use other methods of developing the armed forces.
Answering calls
Currently, the Russian armed forces are solving a number of important military and political tasks, and also face characteristic risks and threats. They have to simultaneously demilitarize the Kyiv regime, protect new regions, contain unfriendly third countries, as well as develop and create a foundation for maintaining defense capability in the future.
To maintain and increase the main indicators, it is necessary to take various measures affecting certain aspects of the development of the armed forces. In particular, last year, based on the results of the first months of the Special Operation, a decision was made to increase the number of armed forces. Since then, the situation has changed in many ways, and the country's leadership is again increasing the number of military personnel in the army. In addition, other measures are being taken in parallel directly related to the recruitment of conscripts, contract soldiers and volunteers.
Some of the recent measures and decisions will be taken for execution in the very near future. Others will become relevant next year, incl. towards its end. Thus, in the foreseeable future it will be possible to observe the results of certain decrees, resolutions, etc. – in the form of a gradual increase in all main indicators of the armed forces.
Information