Russia Needs Million Under Arms Says Kremlin Chief of Staff
MOSCOW, March 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's armed forces should expand to at least a million men in order for the country’s defenses to be effective, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said in an interview published on Tuesday.
“Fewer [people in the army] is already dangerous for the country. With all respect to Europe – we are not Luxembourg and not Belgium,” Ivanov, a former Defense Minister, told the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid daily.
“Russia has a different territory. Besides, we are a nuclear power,” he added.
According to State Duma data, Russia’s armed forces numbered around 800,000 people last year.
The Russian forces are in the midst of a major shake-up, including a huge reequipment program, a gradual transition to fully-volunteer armed services, and organizational changes, in a bid to create forces more suitable for future challenges and less like the legacy forces left over from the Soviet era.
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http://en.rian.ru/military_news/20130305/179825588/Russia-Needs-Million-Under-Arms-Says-Kremlin-Chief-of-Staff.html