Wed 21 December 2022:
Russian President Vladimir Putin promises to give the armed forces anything they ask to support the military campaign in Ukraine.
In a speech to defence chiefs in Moscow, Putin said there were no financial limits on what the government would provide its military.
He added that Russia needs to take special note of the importance of drones in the conflict and said Russia’s hypersonic Sarmat missile, known as “Satan II”, would be ready for deployment soon.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence minister says the military must be expanded from its current one million personnel to 1.5 million as the conflict is set to continue into 2023.
Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the number should include 695,000 volunteer contract soldiers.
He did not say when the military planned to reach the new number.
Shoigu added the Russian military would form new units in the country’s west because of plans by Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
Raising age range for military service
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu proposes raising the age range for mandatory military service to cover citizens aged 21-30 as he said forces would continue fighting in Ukraine next year.
Under the current law, Russians aged between 18-27 can be called up for mandatory military service, but Shoigu and President Vladimir Putin have repeatedly said they are not being sent to fight in Ukraine.
Speaking at an end-of-year conference with Russia’s military chiefs and Putin, Shoigu also said Russia was accelerating the deployment of modern weapons supplies to the army.
Battlefield losses a ‘common tragedy’, says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin says battlefield losses in Ukraine were “a common tragedy” and that he continues to see the Ukrainians as a “brotherly nation”.
Putin added Russia’s enemies wanted to see them disintegrate and repeated a claim that Russia was forced to launch their military action due to what he called Western “provocations”.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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