Russia is boosting the number of troops in its military for the second time in 15 months, citing the war in Ukraine and the expansion of the NATO defense alliance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered the military to increase the number of troops by nearly 170,000 to a total of 1.3 million as the Ukraine war grinds on after 21 months. Putin’s decree, which entered into force immediately, brings the overall number of Russian military personnel to 2.2 million, including 1.3 million troops.
The Russian defense ministry in a message posted on Telegram cited the war in Ukraine and NATO’s expansion — which was spurred by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — as the reasons for the increase in army personnel. Finland joined the Western defense alliance this past spring, and Sweden said this week that Turkey has promised it will ratify Stockholm’s bid “within weeks.”
Western countries don’t want to risk doing anything against a country with nukes.
Oh sure, everyone is fine invading a desert country with weapons several decades behind, but a country with a somewhat equal level is giving everyone pause.
Putin has been making a lot of bluffs at the beginning of this invasion, reminding the world Russia has nukes. Nobody wants to call his bluff.
But would astroturfing on VKontact or telegram be a reason to nuke? Would paying nice crypto to Russian politicians be a motive to launch nukes? Bring the same mayhem, using sores in russian society, that they regularly bring to western countries using their sores and operating on both sides of the aisle. Use the same “the water makes the frogs gay” rethoric they have their allies use against the west.
Let’s play this game too. At least we might have some fun till we all go the way of Slovakia or Hungary.
The problem is that their game is causing chaos. Russians know their government is lying. They just think everyone else is too, so they disengage. Public disengagement favours authoritarians.