Putin wants to change the course of war but Ukraine will have a window of opportunities in the summer - isw

About it reports "Institute of War Research" in its summary on January 17. On Tuesday, January 17, the head of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu published a three -year plan for the expansion of the Armed Forces. It is planned to form 12 new regiments, military districts will appear in the Moscow and Leningrad regions, and the number of recruits will increase. The new Army Corps will also appear in Karelia, bordering Finland.

According to military researchers, the Kremlin plans to quickly create a powerful army. But much will depend on whether Putin will be able to send a large part of the federal budget for the implementation of his military ambitions. The announcement of the expansion of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will not affect the war in Ukraine for months, but by 2024 such a step can affect the ratio of forces, analysts with ISW.

This circumstance creates conditions in which the Russian army can pose a significant threat to neighboring countries, including those that are in NATO. Dionysus Cenus, an analyst from the Lithuanian Center for Eastern Europe, has identified two main goals of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

"First, Russia is preparing for a long war against Ukraine on Ukrainian soil," he explained, adding that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will try to strengthen the defense of the occupied territories, including Crimea. Moreover, the renewal of the Russian army is an objective necessity, because much of the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was destroyed by the Ukrainian military through Western weapons in 2022, and in 2023 this trend will continue.