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<\/p>\nRussian President Vladimir Putin is demanding tens of thousands more soldiers join his war effort as Russia's army losses top one million people.<\/p>\n
The Russian president has demanded the country's military increases its number of troops by nearly 170,000 people, despite 331,110 troops having been killed and more than 993,330 having been injured so badly they've had no choice but to leave the Russia-Ukraine war, according to statistics from the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The 71-year-old's demands will bring the country\u2019s military troops to a total of 1.32 million, as Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine approaches its two year anniversary. Putin\u2019s decree was released by the Kremlin on Friday (December 1) and took force immediately bringing the overall number of Russian military personnel to about 2.2 million.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/b>WW3 threat as Putin ally warns European Borders will not 'exist much longer'<\/p>\n
For all the latest news on the Russia-Ukraine war, click here.<\/p>\n
A similar boost of 137,000 troops was ordered by Putin in August 2022 which put the military\u2019s numbers at about two million personnel and about 1.15 million troops. In total more than 1.3million of its troops have been lost as a result of death or serious injury.<\/p>\n
The defence ministry said the order for troops doesn\u2019t imply any \u201csignificant expansion of conscription\u201d, saying in a statement that the increase would happen gradually by recruiting more volunteers. The ministry also cited what it called \u201cthe special military operation\u201d in Ukraine and the expansion of NATO as reasons for the uplift.<\/p>\n
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Boosting Russian troops was an appropriate response to \u201cthe aggressive activities of the Nato bloc\u201d, the ministry said. Last December, Russia\u2019s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, declared the country needed a force of 1.5 million \u201cto guarantee the fulfilment of tasks to ensure Russia\u2019s security\u201d but did not reveal when exactly the military would reach that size.<\/p>\n
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The Russian military has itself confirmed around 6,000 military casualties, but western estimates are much higher. In October, the UK defence ministry said Russia had \u201clikely suffered 150,000 to 190,000 permanent casualties".<\/p>\n
This number included troops that have been killed or permanently wounded. Statistics provided by the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine suggest the death toll is far higher at more than than 330,000 killed and near one million permanently wounded.<\/p>\n
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