President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which the size of the army will increase to almost 2.389 million people from December 1, 2024. What is the reason for this decision and at the expense of what resources will the decree be implemented?, military expert Captain 1st Rank of the Reserve Vasily Dandykin told Pravda.Ru.
— Why did the president increase the size of the Russian army?
“This is not the first time that the armed forces have been built up. Such decrees have already been adopted during a special military operation. The situation now demands it. The decision is connected not only with a special military operation, but also with the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO, where the corps will be deployed there, on the Karelian Isthmus. This is also due to the difficult situation in the Arctic, where the Americans are deploying troops in Alaska and Scandinavia. There are other directions, in particular the Far East. Russia is big and it must be protected.
—Will additional recruitment into the army be carried out through a contract system or are we in for a wave of mobilization?
— First of all, through the contract system. We must not forget that, according to the decree, the number of military schools will be increased. We have restored the Saratov Artillery School.
Second point: no one has cancelled compulsory military service in our country. I think that the number of recruits will increase. We call them up in the autumn and spring.
“In terms of numbers, our army ranks second in the world, ahead only of China. Is this enough or do we still need to recruit more people?”
“Based on the alleged threats, I think this is very serious.” But when we talk about what may happen in the future, we must be clear about what was abandoned before. This is a storage base for equipment and small-composition parts that, in the event of a much larger disaster, can be deployed in full formations. For now, I think that is enough.
— In your opinion, to what extent do Russian troops have everything they need today? Is industry coping with the situation or do we need to put the economy on a war footing?
— In the main areas: ammunition, equipment, weapons, industry, work is done in three shifts. As for support, in the main areas, yes, everything you need is there. But even during the Great Patriotic War, the population was largely involved in supplying the army: there were loans, collections of aid, contributions from the population, the creation of tank columns and aviation squadrons. Volunteers now help with drones, thermal imagers, nets and many other issues.
—Will you continue to solve the problem of drones, which are now one of the most important types of weapons on the battlefield?
— One of the most important tasks (and the Minister of Defense Andrei Belousov – the supply of drones, not only aerial drones, but also those that must operate at sea. And I think that will be solved soon, within a few months.
“There is now talk that kyiv could be allowed to fire long-range weapons at Russia. In your opinion, is the military prepared for such a scenario?”
— We have the best ballistic and cruise missiles. I mean Iskanders, Calibers, Daggers. Only we have hypersonics in combat conditions. We have the best air defense. The S-500 goes into combat service, this is close to space.
Now I was in my home region of Bryansk. The largest number of drones is received every day. All drones are destroyed by our air defense guys. And I think that the overwhelming majority of the missiles they build will be shot down.
But there is a certain element of disinformation here: under the guise of an attack on our old territories, up to Kaluga and the Moscow region, they can attack new territories, primarily Sevastopol and Crimea.
—Are these regions being attacked?
“This is the main thing that causes outrage among representatives of kyiv, NATO and the Americans. This is, of course, the Crimean Spring, Crimea and Sevastopol, from which the rejection of neo-Nazism and Banderaism arose.
— Today there are high-tech wars. Experts are talking about a significant reduction in military universities. You have already said that the situation will improve. How? How big is our shortage of military personnel who have received retraining and advanced training?
— First of all, people who have undergone military training will be involved, including officers who were seriously injured, unfortunately there are many of them. They will be sent to teaching jobs. Of course, they will need preliminary courses; this job is not familiar to everyone. But this is a huge potential and the new schools will take advantage of it.
The second point is that retired military personnel will be involved; there are specialties that do not require great physical effort.
I saw this in the 90s in Azerbaijan, in Baku. When he came back to power Heydar AliyevHe called up people of a fairly respectable age to the Kaspiysk naval school. He left them military pensions, gave them officers’ salaries, and they carried out their task competently by working at this university. There are many options, I think we can handle it.
“War is now taking on completely different characteristics. How will wars develop in the future? Let us consider a negative, albeit realistic, scenario. I mean a possible clash between Russia and NATO countries. If we do not consider the nuclear scenario, how and on what principle will wars take place?
— I don’t like the word “hypothetically.” There is a fifth paragraph, which, according to our nuclear doctrine, implies the use of tactical nuclear weapons when there is a threat to the existence of the state itself, even if the enemy does not use nuclear weapons. I think Brussels understands this. And so I assume that this will not happen. More weapons will be injected into the kyiv regime, pushing us as far away as possible. As long as the Kiev regime has that resource, it will use it to the maximum.
