Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the Russian military to expand to 1.5 million active troops, which would make it the second largest army in the world behind China.
The decree would increase the number of active troops by 180,000, effective December 1, according to a report by Reuters. With the increase, Russia’s would have 2.38 million total military personnel.
This marks the third and largest official expansion of Russia’s military since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Putin ordered increases of 137,000 and 170,000 active soldiers in August 2022 and December 2023, respectively.
By the end of this year, Russia will surpass the U.S. and India in terms of military size and be second only to China. Beijing has over 2 million active servicemen, according to military think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The latest expansion comes days after Putin warned the U.S. and its NATO allies that they would risk war if they lifted restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia — a move that President Joe Biden is finalizing, according to news reports. If finalized, the Russian president would view the foreign policy as a major escalation from NATO.
“This will mean that NATO countries, the U.S. and European countries are at war with Russia,” Putin told a state television reporter on Thursday. “And if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us.”
Putin has previously warned the West against becoming directly involved in the Russia-Ukraine war.
In June, he threatened the U.S. and Germany after the two countries authorized Ukraine to use munitions to hit Russia. If provoked, the Russian president said he could provide long-range weapons to foreign adversaries to strike Western targets.
Earlier this year, Putin threatened the West at least two separate times with the prospect of nuclear war if they continue aiding Ukraine. In the latter statement, he said he doubted U.S. policymakers would directly intervene in the war while maintaining his country’s military is prepared for any scenario.
The war continues dragging on more than two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though the conflict’s official start was a decade ago. Ukraine launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in early August, recapturing Russian-controlled territory and exchanging hundreds of prisoners. In return, Russia launched a counteroffensive last week to dial up the pressure on Ukraine’s efforts.