Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree directing the Russian military to expand its forces by an additional 170,000 personnel, as Russia's special military operation in Ukraine extends into its 22nd month.

The executive order, which became effective upon signing, was published on Friday by the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry on their respective websites.

In this directive, Putin mandated an increase in the overall number of individuals serving in the Russian Armed Forces to 2,209,130, with 1,320,000 designated as servicemen. This implies the addition of nearly 170,000 more personnel to the existing ranks.

The decision follows Putin's previous decree in August of the previous year, which has been in effect since January of the current year. Under that decree, the total number of individuals serving in the Russian Armed Forces was 2,039,758, including 1,150,628 servicemen.

"The increase in the full-time strength of the armed forces is due to the growing threats to our country associated with the special military operation and the ongoing expansion of NATO," the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

The statement emphasized that the directive does not indicate a "substantial expansion of conscription" and clarified that the augmentation would occur gradually through the recruitment of additional volunteers. The ministry underscored that this increase was a measured response to the "aggressive activities of the NATO bloc."

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Putin's mobilization decree is without a specified end date, although he mentioned that there is currently no necessity to gather additional forces. Additionally, the decree grants the Russian military the authority to summon additional reservists as required, prohibiting volunteer soldiers from terminating their contracts.

In a separate development on Friday, Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian President and current deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, reported that over 452,000 individuals were enlisted into the Russian military under contract from January to December.

It is worth noting that the conflict in eastern Ukraine, initiated by Russia in February of the preceding year, was purportedly in response to Western provocations. It aimed to protect the Russian-speaking population against what was described as atrocities committed by the Kiev government, aiming to counteract the eastward expansion of US-led NATO forces toward Moscow, which commenced in 2014.

Throughout the war, and for years before, Ukraine has received substantial quantities of weaponry and military personnel from the United States and its European allies.

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