Putin and Shoigu spoke about the special operation and the future of the Russian army. The main thing

Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in an expanded meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Defense on December 21. The Russian army is constantly increasing the potential of its Armed Forces (AF), and this process will continue, he said. “The armed forces and the combat capabilities of our Armed Forces are increasing, constantly and every day. And this process, of course, we will increase,” said the president. He also noted that the Russian troops continue “confidently, step by step” to solve the “set before them” tasks, despite the use of almost the entire potential of NATO against Russia.

Putin pointed out to the Ministry of Defense that there are no restrictions on financing the army, the country provides everything that the military needs. “I want to draw the attention of the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff, all the commanders who are represented here, we have no funding restrictions. The country, the government give everything that the army asks for. Everybody. I hope that the answer will be properly formulated and the corresponding results will be achieved,” he stressed.

“We will continue to maintain and improve the combat readiness of the nuclear triad – this is the main guarantee of preserving our sovereignty and territorial integrity, strategic parity and the overall balance of power in the world,” Putin said. According to him, this year the level of modern weapons in the strategic nuclear forces has already exceeded 91%, and the re-equipment of the regiments of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) with the Avangard hypersonic warhead is also underway.

The nuclear triad is the strategic armed forces of a state equipped with nuclear weapons, including three components: strategic aviation, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and nuclear submarine missile carriers. Its presence ensures the impossibility of destroying the entire combat-ready arsenal of nuclear weapons in the event of a surprise attack by the enemy, wrote “Vedomosti”.

The Russian military participating in the NVO are fighting in the same way “like their ancestors” in the war of 1812, the First World War and the Great Patriotic War, the head of state believes. He offered to encourage participants in the hostilities. Officers and non-commissioned officers who gained experience during the special military operation should be assigned to new positions as a matter of priority and have a priority right to enter the country’s military universities, including the General Staff Academy, he said. According to the president, the experience of the special operation should be used to improve combat records, including in the preparation and conduct of exercises and training at all levels.

Putin acknowledged that the partial mobilization carried out in the fall of 2022 revealed “certain problems” and the system for organizing the draft needs to be changed. “I know that many measures are being taken, but still we need to pay attention to this and build this system in a modern way. First of all, it is necessary to modernize the system of military commissariats,” he urged.

One of the President’s key statements was devoted to the reserve of military personnel formed during the period of partial mobilization. “As you know, 300,000 people have been drafted into the Armed Forces. Some of them are already in the war zone. As reported by the Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff, 150,000 people are being trained at military training grounds. This is a sufficient reserve for conducting an operation, it is practically a strategic reserve,” explained is he.

Putin also urged the leadership of the Defense Ministry to be attentive to criticism and respond to it “correctly, in a timely manner.” “Such a reaction can be emotional, but one must, of course, hear those who do not hush up the existing problems, but seek to contribute to their solution,” he said.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported on the tasks that partial mobilization was intended to solve. “In order to stabilize the situation, protect new territories and carry out further offensive operations, it was necessary to increase the combat and numerical strength of our troops. For these purposes, a partial mobilization was carried out,” he said. Shoigu also said that 100,000 SVO participants received state awards, 120 of them were Heroes of Russia.

The priority is to achieve all the goals of the NWO in 2023, the head of the military department announced. “The priority task for 2023 is to continue conducting a special military operation until the tasks are fully completed. The Russian groupings of troops and forces are to ensure the preservation of peace in Nagorno-Karabakh and Syria,” he said.

Shoigu also suggested shifting the age limit for conscription into the army from 18 to 21, and the age limit from 27 to 30. In his opinion, the number of the RF Armed Forces should be increased to 1.5 million people, including contract soldiers – up to 695,000. At the same time, the minister noted that over 830,000 people who work at defense enterprises industrial complex and in a number of other socially significant areas.

Taking into account the desire of NATO to build up military potential near the Russian borders, as well as to expand the alliance through Finland and Sweden, it is necessary to take measures to create a group of troops in the north-west of the country, the head of the Defense Ministry noted. To accomplish this task, he proposed the creation of two strategic formations of the Armed Forces – the Moscow and Leningrad military districts.

In connection with the SVO, the delivery times for the most popular types of weapons were reduced. “The most important feature of the fulfillment of the state defense order in 2022 was the provision of weapons and equipment for groupings of troops that solve tasks in a special military operation. To build up their combat capabilities, deliveries of the most popular samples were transferred from 2024–2025. for 2023,” Shoigu said.

The Minister also proposed to put on combat duty in the Strategic Missile Forces 22 launchers with intercontinental ballistic missiles “Yars”, “Avangard” and “Sarmat”, to accept three Tu-160M ​​strategic missile carriers into the aviation strategic nuclear forces, and the nuclear submarine of the project “Borey-A” “Emperor Alexander III”, as well as four submarines and 12 surface ships, to increase the supply of high-precision hypersonic missile systems “Dagger” and “Zircon”. He also voiced a number of proposals related to structural changes in individual units and structures of the RF Armed Forces.

Putin agreed with Shoigu’s proposals and suggested that the Ukrainian authorities would soon “have nothing but handouts of money, weapons and ammunition.” But the Russian government will not “destroy the economy in the interests of defense.” “We will not repeat the mistakes of the past, when, in the interests of increasing defense capability, where necessary, and where it was not necessary, we destroyed our economy. We will not engage in the militarization of the country and the militarization of the economy,” the President stressed, saying that he still considers the Ukrainian people to be fraternal.