Thanks to a windfall tax paid by Gazprom, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that there will be “no limitations” on spending for the military’s victory in the Ukraine. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that Russia should expand its armed forces to 1.5 million troops, including 695,000 professional contract soldiers from the current 1.15 million in a bid to bolster security. 

Russia is facing nearly the entire military potential of NATO in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday during an extended meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense. The Russian president also commented on what led up to the current conflict with Kiev and noted the importance of modernizing the country’s nuclear potential in order to maintain sovereignty.

“The country and government is giving everything that the army asks for–everything. I trust that there will be an appropriate response and the results will be achieved,” Putin told top military officials at the Defense Ministry’s annual meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. 

Moscow hosted landmark events that summed up the results of 2022 in the military and political sphere in Russia. Vladimir Putin held an extended meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, where the interim results of military operations in Ukraine were discussed.

The Russian president addressed the nation’s top military commanders, covering a number of national security issues. President Vladimir Putin comments on Russia’s confrontation with the West, the operation in Ukraine and improvements to national security:

The Russian President claimed that, despite the use of NATO’s military potential against Russia, the tasks of the country’s defense will be fulfilled. Russian officials also confirmed that Moscow is always ready for constructive peace talks to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

Putin stressed that Ukraine has become a field of confrontation with the collective West.

The United States and its allies are pumping the Kiev regime with weapons, training military personnel, providing intelligence information, sending advisers and mercenaries, and waging an information and sanctions war against Russia.

More than 500 US and NATO spacecraft are supporting the operation of the Ukrainian military, over 70 of them are military ones, the rest are dual–use.

The West is spending billions dollars to prolong the conflict in Ukraine as much as possible and weaken Russia.

However, the Russian leader stressed that his country is reliably protected, including by the nuclear triad.

This year, the level of modern weapons in Russia’s strategic nuclear forces exceeded 91 percent. The rearmament of Russian regiments with modern missile systems with the Avangard hypersonic warhead continues.

The Defense Minister said that this year the nuclear triad was replenished with a deeply modernized Tu-160M strategic bomber.

Russia has also completed work on the hypersonic complex “Zircon”. The frigate Admiral Gorshkov is almost ready to enter combat duty with the advanced weapon. Also, Russian forces will soon receive the Sarmat missile capable of overcoming any missile defense system.

The experience of the military operation in Ukraine has also revealed some problems in equipping Russian forces.

For example, the acute need for UAVs and improvement of communications. Putin said that in the near future, every soldier should have the opportunity to receive information transmitted from drones.

The Minister of Defense also proposed to gradually increase the age of conscription of citizens from 18 to 21 years, and raise the limit to 30 years. This is rather due to the demographic situation in the country and the low birth rate in the 90s.

Putin ordered an increase in the number of Russian armed forces to 1.5 million soldiers.

During the fighting in Ukraine, in fact Russia gets experience conducting military operations against a NATO army, which is already trained to NATO standards and equipped with the latest NATO equipment. President Putin demanded the use and analysis of the information about NATO forces and means to increase the combat capabilities of Russian troops.

Here’s a recap of the main points from Putin’s speech.

Confrontation with West

Putin said Moscow’s “strategic opponents” have always tried to “cut down” and “break up” Russia because they believe the country is “too big” and poses a threat. He noted that this was something the West had been trying to achieve for centuries.

Russia, meanwhile, has always hoped and tried to become a part of the so-called “civilized world” but has come to realize that it is simply not welcome there, according to Putin.

Ukraine as brotherly nation

Russia spent years doing everything it could to build not just neighborly, but brotherly relations with Ukraine, and nothing worked, said Putin, noting that “we have always considered Ukrainians to be a brotherly people.”

“I still believe that. Everything that is happening is a tragedy. Our common tragedy. But it is not the result of our policies,” the president said.

He added that Russia’s geopolitical opponents have started to use a wide range of means to further their goals, including meddling in the internal affairs of the former Soviet republics, especially Ukraine, which ultimately led to the ongoing conflict with Kiev. Thus, it had become “inevitable,” the president concluded.

NATO against Russia 

Putin stated that NATO was currently using the military potential of nearly all of its member states against Moscow.

However, he noted that Russia had learned a lot from its mistakes in the past and would not harm itself by militarizing the nation.

“We will not militarize the country and we will not militarize the economy,” Putin proclaimed, stressing that Russia’s current level of development simply doesn’t require such measures.

He added that Russian military leaders have been tasked with studying NATO’s tactics and capabilities and have been asked to consider this information in the training and equipment of Russia’s own forces.

Nuclear triad

Russia’s nuclear arsenal is the key guarantor of its sovereignty, Putin said, noting that new weapons will soon enter into service and commit to the development of the country’s defensive capabilities.

The president said Russia will continue to maintain and improve its nuclear triad, which comprises missiles fired from aircraft, submarines, and ground-based mobile launchers and silos.

Modernizing the Russian military 

The president emphasized the need to bolster the use of drones in the Russian army and pointed to the country’s experience in developing underwater unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which he said should be improved upon to create more advanced air and ground drones.

He suggested modernizing communication systems and incorporating artificial intelligence technologies across all decision-making levels, noting that fast and automated systems have proven to be the most effective on the battlefield.

The president also approved a number of structural changes proposed by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in response to NATO bolstering its forces on the border with Russia and potentially extending membership to Finland and Sweden.