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cailianshe news, september 17 (editor: niu zhanlin)on monday (september 16) local time, russian president vladimir putin signed a presidential decree to increase the number of russian armed forces to 2,389,130, of which 1.5 million are active military personnel. this is the third time that russia has expanded its military since the russian-ukrainian conflict.

the last time putin signed a similar presidential decree was in december 2023, when he called for an increase in the strength of the russian armed forces to 2,209,130, including 1.32 million military personnel.

that is to say, 180,000 military personnel were added this time, while the previous two times saw increases of 137,000 and 170,000 respectively.

in a presidential decree on monday, putin also instructed the russian government to allocate the necessary funds to the russian ministry of defense through the federal budget to promote the implementation of the military expansion policy.

the last time the russian military expanded its presence, kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov explained that the move was the result of a "proxy war" waged by western countries against russia. "of course, the security of our country must be guaranteed."

"this is related to the war collectively launched by western countries. this is a proxy war, including elements of indirect participation in military operations, as well as elements of economic warfare, financial warfare, legal warfare, etc. that go beyond the legal framework."

the russian ministry of defense also said at the time that the decision to increase the number of military personnel was due to the threat posed by the continued expansion of nato. nato member states, led by the united states, have significantly expanded their military presence on the russian border and deployed more air defense systems and strike weapons.

peskov said on monday that the recent discussion on whether to allow ukraine to use western weapons to strike russian territory is just the united states "formalizing" its involvement in the ukrainian conflict. in fact, american experts and soldiers have already intervened in the ukrainian conflict without obtaining so-called authorization.

peskov stressed that russian president vladimir putin's position on the matter was very clear. putin said last week that direct involvement of nato, the united states and european countries in the russian-ukrainian conflict would greatly change the nature of the conflict, which would mean that they would go to war with russia, and russia would make appropriate decisions based on the threats it faces.

meanwhile, russian troops are advancing across eastern ukraine, making gains along parts of a vast 1,000km front and attempting to expel ukrainian forces from russia's kursk region.

andrei kartapolov, chairman of the russian state duma defense committee, said that increasing the number of active military personnel is part of the plan to reform the armed forces, with the aim of gradually increasing the size of the army to adapt to the current international situation. "since finland, which borders russia, has joined nato, russia now needs to form new military units to ensure the security of its northwest. in order to implement this process, it is necessary to increase the number of military personnel."