It is unlikely that the Kremlin will form such a large conventional force in the time frame relevant to Russia's

war

in Ukraine, because the formation of units takes time.

This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Analysts of the Institute note that in his speech, Russian Defense Minister

Sergei Shoigu publicly presented a series of changes to Russian defense policy

to significantly increase the size of the Russian army.

Shoigu offered Russia to restore the Moscow and Leningrad military districts, to form a new army corps and 17 new maneuver divisions.

He also offered Russia to form a new army corps in Karelia, two new airborne assault divisions, three new motorized rifle divisions in the occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, and to expand the existing seven brigades of the Northern Fleet and the Western, Central and Eastern Military Districts to seven new motorized rifle divisions. while expanding the five existing Marine brigades into five Marine divisions.

Shoigu proposed the formation of five artillery divisions to support military districts.

He put forward the idea of ​​increasing the number of the Russian Armed Forces to 1.5 million servicemen, including 695,000 contract soldiers (in the spring of 2021, Shoigu stated that 380,000 Russians were contract soldiers), a gradual increase in the conscription age for military service from 18 to 21, and an increase in the maximum the age of conscripts is from 27 to 30 years.

However, Shoigu did not specify the timing of these measures.

ISW assures that it is highly unlikely that the Kremlin will form such a large conventional force in the time frame relevant to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Formation of units is expensive and takes time.

Russia's economy is in recession, and its resources to build capacity have dwindled significantly since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's net training capacity has likely declined since February 24, in part because the Kremlin used training elements to engage in hostilities in Ukraine, significantly weakening their capabilities.

We will remind, at the extended meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on Wednesday, December 21, the president of the aggressor state, 

Vladimir Putin, made several statements 

related to the war in Ukraine and strengthening the military potential of the Russian army. 

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