On Thursday, a meeting of the leadership of the Union Ministry of Defense was held. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s speech was its highlight. 15,000 people were expected to attend the meeting. Participants.
After Shoigu Vladimir Putin, he asserted, among other things, that “all capabilities of NATO are being used against Russia.” He also noted the need to expand the arsenal of modern strike weapons in the Russian army.
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“Given NATO’s efforts to build military capabilities near Russia’s borders and NATO’s expansion into Finland and Sweden, it is necessary to take retaliatory measures to create an appropriate troop group in northwestern Russia,” Shoigu said.
In his speech, he also said the army would focus on preparing for “threats related to NATO’s expansion in the east”.
The Ministry of Defense has announced that the first Tu-160M strategic bomber has joined the Russian nuclear triad. Russia also announced the entry into service of the submarine Generalissimo Suvorov.
Shoigu said that Russia will continue a “special military operation” in Ukraine in 2023, and that a partial mobilization was carried out “to stabilize the situation at the front, defend its new territories and continue the offensive”.
However, he admitted failures in this regard. He emphasized that Russia had recently mobilized during World War II and that the system had not fully adapted to the “new economic relations”. Hence, “urgent” corrective action was taken.
– We faced difficulties in informing and calling the citizens in reserve. Any deficiencies should be rectified regularly, he said.
In his speech, the minister also called for an increase in the size of the Russian armed forces to 1.5 million soldiers. Remember that in August. The president signed an executive order establishing the size of the army at 1 million. According to the same document, from January 1, the army is to increase to 1.15 million.
Sources: PAP, RIA Novosti
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