Moscow. january 24th. INTERFAX-AVN - The reason for the adjustment of the development plan of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was the desire of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, as well as the use of Ukraine to wage a hybrid war against Russia, said the chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov."The plan is approved by the President of the Russian Federation and can be adjusted when existing and new threats to the military security of the Russian Federation change.
Today, such threats are the aspirations of the North Atlantic Alliance to expand at the expense of Finland and Sweden, as well as the use of Ukraine as a tool for waging a hybrid war against our country," Gerasimov said in an interview with the website aif.ru .
"In order to neutralize these threats, the country's top leadership has set the task to adjust the plan for the construction and development of the Armed Forces. Its parameters were approved by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief at an expanded meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense," Gerasimov said.
"The main ones are the creation of the Moscow and Leningrad military districts, the formation of three motorized rifle divisions as part of combined arms associations in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the army corps in Karelia," he said.
On January 17, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the head of the department, Sergei Shoigu, as part of his work in grouping troops in the zone of a special military operation in Ukraine, held a meeting dedicated to increasing the number of Armed Forces to 1.5 million soldiers.
Shoigu then said that changes in the composition of the Armed Forces, an increase in their number, a change in the military-administrative division of the Russian Federation will be carried out in 2023-2026.
"The President of the Russian Federation has made a decision to increase the number of Armed Forces to 1.5 million military personnel. Guaranteed to ensure the military security of the state, to protect new subjects and critical facilities of the Russian Federation is possible only by strengthening the key structural components of the Armed Forces: to create two new interspecific strategic territorial associations of the Armed Forces - the Moscow and Leningrad military districts, as well as self-sufficient groups of troops (forces) on the territories of the new subjects of the Russian Federation," Shoigu said, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on January 17.
According to Shoigu, it is necessary to "form an army corps in the Republic of Karelia, three motorized rifle divisions as part of the Ground Forces and two amphibious assault divisions in the Airborne Troops, to reorganize seven motorized rifle brigades in the Western, Central, Eastern Military Districts and the Northern Fleet into motorized rifle divisions."
Shoigu then said that the combat component of the Navy, Aerospace Forces and Strategic Missile Forces would be strengthened.
