Russia has announced plans to increase the size of its own army. However, the aggressor's plans are unlikely to come true.

 This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

 Analysts note that the Kremlin once again accused the North Atlantic Alliance of being a "military threat" to the Russian Federation.

 "In particular, Defense Minister Serhii Shoigu said that NATO's expansion near Russia's borders, including Finland's and Sweden's aspirations for membership, requires a 'proper' response from Russia to create a group of troops in the northwest," the report says.

 The ISW indicates that he later proposed to increase the size of the army. The head of the Ministry of Defense informed about increasing the number of the Russian Armed Forces to 1.5 million soldiers, including 695 thousand contract soldiers.

 "However, it is highly unlikely that the Kremlin will form such a large conventional force in the time frame relevant to Russia's war in Ukraine. After all, Moscow was unable to fully staff existing brigades and regiments before a full-scale invasion and did not fully build a new division, the formation of which was announced in 2020", experts are convinced.

 The Institute emphasized that the Russian economy is in recession and its resources have been significantly reduced since the full-scale invasion. The training potential of the Russian Federation has also decreased since February 24, partly due to the fact that training elements were deployed to participate in hostilities in Ukraine.

 "Shoigu's proposals can only be a speech to appease the community of mil bloggers who have accused the Kremlin of frivolous waging of war. It also establishes the informational conditions for conducting future mobilization waves under the rubric of manning these formations or significantly building up Russia's military power in the long term," the analysts add.