Putin raises Russian military strength to 2.4 million

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has increased the size of the country's military by boosting the overall number to 2.389 million, according to a presidential decree issued on Monday. The number of soldiers is to rise to 1.5 million, the decree said. In December, Putin raised the military's target strength to 2.2 million, with 1.33 million of them being soldiers. The new decree instructs the government to allocate the necessary funds from the Ministry of Defence's budget to cover the increase in the army's numbers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the increase in the number of Russian armed forces is due to threats to the country. Source: Emirates News Agency