Putin Sets Personnel Ceiling of Russian Armed Forces at Over 2.44 Million

The personnel ceiling of the Russian armed forces grew by 15,500 people compared to the previous decree

© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to set the authorized strength of the Russian armed forces at over 2.44 million people, including 1.55 million active service members.

The decree, published on Russia’s official legal information database, instructs "to establish the authorized strength of the Russian Armed Forces at 2,441,630 personnel, including 1,550,500 service members."

"The government of the Russian Federation is to provide for the allocation of federal budget appropriations, necessary for the implementation of Paragraph 1 of the decree," the document reads.

The previous presidential decree on the matter, dated June 12, 2026, "shall be recognized as having lost force."

In late July, the Russian president set the personnel ceiling of the Russian armed forces at 2,426,130 people, including 1,535,000 active service members in a decree effective from August 1.

Therefore, the personnel ceiling of the Russian armed forces grew by 15,500 people.

Prior to that, the president has raised the authorized strength of the Russian armed forces in March. In all, troop numbers grew by 49,860 people in total between March and September 2026.