Russia's plan to increase its number of soldiers is unlikely to have an impact on the Ukraine war, the UK's Ministry of Defense has said, reports BBC.
Vladimir Putin recently signed a decree to increase the Russian armed forces' military personnel to more than 1.15m, which means there will be addition of 137,000 soldiers.
But the UK’s MoD said the expansion was unlikely to increase Russia's combat power, partly because of ongoing losses.
President Putin's decree came amid a military recruitment drive.
There have been reports that recruiters have even been visiting prisons, promising inmates freedom and money.
Currently, Russia has a limit of just over a million military personnel, plus almost 900,000 civilian staff.
In one of its regular updates on the war, the UK ministry said it was not clear if the planned increase would be achieved by recruiting more volunteers - or by increasing conscription.
But any increase was unlikely to have an impact in Ukraine given that Russia has lost tens of thousands of troops, very few new contract (i.e. non-conscript) servicemen are being recruited and conscripts are not technically obliged to serve outside Russian territory, the MoD said.
Western officials say some 70-80,000 troops have been killed or wounded since Russia invaded Ukraine six months ago.
Russia planned a short, decisive campaign when it invaded Ukraine in February, but Ukrainian resistance has stalled its progress, and in recent weeks front lines have hardly moved.
Currently, Russian men aged 18 to 27 are subject to conscription, although many are able to avoid or reduce their service - usually one year - through medical exemptions or by enrolling in higher education.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
