MOSCOW. A new increase in army strength by 400,000 men, a new “world’s only” supersonic weapon ready in early January, and an absolute commitment to meeting all the needs of the military without a budget cap. These were the central axes of his ads Russian President Putin during yesterday’s extended meeting with the leadership of the Russian armed forces. The Russian statements were further evidence that Mr. war in Ukraine expands endlessly.

Yesterday’s announcements also included the creation of two new military commands in the northwest in response to Finland’s and Sweden’s expected membership in NATO and the commissioning of the largest gas field in Eastern Siberia to the Chinese market.

The President of Russia promised the country’s security forces full support. “The country, the government will give everything that the army asks for. Everything,” Vladimir Putin said. “There are no funding restrictions,” he said. Putin welcomed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s proposal to increase the size of the army to 1.5 million instead of the previously planned 1.1 million. Among them, about 700,000 will be professionals, and as regards conscripts, it has been proposed that the compulsory conscription should concern young people aged 21 to 30, as opposed to what has been in place so far (youth aged 18 to 27 ).

Increase troops by 400,000 people, new supersonic weapons and cover all the needs of the army without budget limits.

In January, the Zircon supersonic missile, which is launched from the Admiral Gortsov frigate and from a submarine in the Arctic, will enter service with Russia. The first test of this weapon, which Russia is proud of its “invincibility”, took place in 2020, and its range is 1000 kilometers.

Kovitkovskoye field

The Russian President promised that Russia’s military actions would not affect the way of life of the Russian population, as the country would continue to receive income from hydrocarbons, which it would send to Asian markets. “We are announcing the start of exploitation of the Kovykta field, the largest in Eastern Siberia,” he said, with a capacity of 1.8 trillion cubic meters. cubic meters of natural gas. Yesterday, former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev made a surprise visit to China to discuss Sino-Russian cooperation in a number of areas. Finally, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that “no one in Europe is seriously investigating what happened to the Nord Stream gas pipeline.” The Washington Post reported yesterday that 23 diplomats and intelligence officials from nine European countries see no Russian connection to the pipeline sabotage. “There is no indication that Russia is behind the sabotage,” they said.