VLADIMIR Putin has ordered thousands more troops into his military machine just days after insisting Russia is not preparing for war with Europe.
Putin’s sprawling armed forces are now authorised to contain a staggering 2,441,630 personnel – including 1,550,500 active-duty military personnel.
It is the fourth time this year Putin has ordered an expansion of his enormous military establishment, following previous decrees in March, June and late July.
But the latest build-up comes just days after the Russian leader flatly denied he was preparing to plunge Moscow into a wider conflict with Europe.
Putin said: “I want to emphasize once again that we are not preparing for any military action against Europe.
“We have no such plans, and, most importantly, there are no grounds for them.
“There are no real incentives whatsoever to escalate the situation with Europe.”
He accused European countries of deliberately escalating tensions by warning their populations to prepare for a possible Russian attack.
Putin also claimed the rights of Russian speakers were being violated in the Baltic states but insisted Moscow would respond through humanitarian measures and international law.
The Kremlin’s latest military expansion comes barely a week after a parliamentary election Putin had himself portrayed as a test of support for his war.
Putin’s United Russia party tightened its iron grip on the State Duma with a record 355 of its 450 seats, according to near-complete official results.
The vote was the first parliamentary election since the tyrant unleashed his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
It was held inside Russia and in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, where the votes are not recognised as legitimate by Kyiv or Western governments.
Putin had urged Russians to use their ballots to demonstrate that “millions of people” stood behind the country’s fighters.
But critics accused the Kremlin of crushing meaningful opposition ahead of the ballot.
And the election was overshadowed by ominous warnings that Putin could use the result to demand even greater sacrifices for his bloody war machine.
The Institute for the Study of War said before the vote that the Kremlin was seeking to present the election as evidence of popular support for Putin’s war.
It warned that it could help Moscow justify “long-term societal sacrifices such as mobilization”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has since warned that Russia is already embarking on an additional mobilisation drive.
He said: “In effect, the Russians have already begun mobilisation. They are increasing the number of people they recruit through various means.
“They also plan to increase the recruitment of foreigners, and it is important that the governments of the countries from which Russia recruits people into its ranks counter this.
“We will inform every relevant government.”
Zelensky previously claimed Putin could seek another 300,000 troops following the parliamentary elections – despite repeated Kremlin denials that another mobilisation is being prepared.
And it is not just manpower Putin is pouring into his vast war machine.
Russia is preparing to splurge a record 17.1 trillion roubles – around £153billion – on defence in 2027, according to government documents seen by Reuters.
The eye-watering war chest is around 27 per cent higher than the 13.5 trillion roubles originally budgeted and would be Moscow’s biggest defence spend since Putin unleashed his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A staggering 50 trillion roubles is now set to be pumped into defence over the next three years as the Kremlin bankrolls its mammoth military machine.
And Putin appears prepared to heap further pressure on Russia’s strained finances to pay for it.
Moscow has doubled its estimate for this year’s budget deficit from 1.6 per cent to 3.2 per cent of GDP and increased its net borrowing plan by 26 per cent to five trillion roubles.
Putin’s latest military expansion will now fuel fresh scrutiny of his denials as European countries simultaneously brace themselves against an increasingly menacing Russian threat.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that Moscow could launch “hybrid” attacks against countries backing Ukraine – including Poland.
“These potential strikes would be quote-unquote ‘accidental’ in nature,” he told parliament, citing intelligence.
“[They will be] intended to paralyse or at least weaken the resolve of Nato states to invoke the relevant Nato provisions in the event of aggression against a member country.”
The chilling scenario would see Moscow pile pressure on NATO while sowing uncertainty over whether an incident amounted to a deliberate Russian attack.
And even some of Europe’s biggest holiday hotspots have now been dragged into the terrifying security fears surrounding Putin’s next move.
US intelligence services have reportedly warned European countries of a possible Russian operation involving drones launched from commercial vessels in the Mediterranean.
Spain, France and Italy were named as possible targets in intelligence described by Spanish newspaper El Mundo, according to subsequent reports.
The suspected plot could involve Gerbera-type drones hidden aboard ships before being unleashed from international waters towards southern Europe.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/17070260/putin-calls-up-thousands-soldiers-despite-no-war-claim/