Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree increasing the strength of the Armed Forces (AF) by 137,000 people from January 1, 2023. The total staff of the Armed Forces will now be 2,039,758, including 1,150,628 servicemen, Kommersant reported. 

The previous decree of November 17, 2017 determined that the staffing level of the Russian Armed Forces was 1,902,758 people, including 1,013,628 servicemen. It has been in effect since January 2018.


The number of servicemen in the armed forces of the USSR at the end of 1991 was 3.7-3.8 million (without civilian personnel). In 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree "On the creation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," which envisioned a reduction in the size of the army. According to various estimates, at that time Russia had 2.5-2.8 million full-time military personnel.

By 1994, the number of servicemen in Russia was reduced to 2.1 million, and by 1996, to 1.7 million (by 40%, as compared with 1992). Since 1996, the regular number of military personnel of the Army and other troops is established by presidential decrees. Eight such decrees have been published since 1997. The new, August decree was the ninth.

According to the open part of the draft budget for 2022-2024, in 2022 the Russian Armed Forces will spend 1,067.3 billion rubles, in 2023, 1,110.6 billion rubles, and in 2024, 1,143.7 billion rubles.