The increase would take the overall number of Russian military personnel to nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, according to the decree published by the Kremlin Monday. Last week, Russia stepped up its efforts to expel Ukrainian troops from Kursk and is inching forward toward the crucial Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas region. In August 2022, Putin ordered an increase of 137,000 troops by the start of the new year, which put the military’s staffing at just over 2 million personnel, including 1.15 million troops. Then in December, Putin ordered another official expansion of 170,000 troops, bringing the total to 1.32 million. In an update published this month, the General Staff of Ukraine’s military said Russia has lost 616,300 troops.

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Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin’s, Putin, Sergei Shoigu Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Russian, Staff, United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense Locations: Ukraine, Russia’s, Kursk, Russia, Pokrovsk, Kharkiv, Georgia, Robotyne, ”