Putin is building a larger, stronger army. Peace in Ukraine will only help him

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1. With an 830-mile border with Russia, it’s no surprise that Finland pays close attention to Moscow’s military plans. The prime minister, Petteri Orpo, has warned that peace in Ukraine would paradoxically increase the potential threat to [Nato](https://inews.co.uk/topic/nato?srsltid=AfmBOopfVsQSIIU2stCXDaBXp2w7XI_zIm6jQTcx8P5wuGSJP3Ol7IUk&ico=in-line_link). 

   Whether or not, [as Donald Trump claimed](https://inews.co.uk/news/europe-sets-conditions-peace-ukraine-us-security-guarantees-4112569?ico=in-line_link), the world is “closer now than we have been, ever” to a deal over [Ukraine](https://inews.co.uk/topic/ukraine?srsltid=AfmBOoqAWlq2REGvKtuOwGfJIzaWwJwsstzip3OpPA8QMjmcdA2pmRwf&ico=in-line_link), whenever it does happen, Russia will be free not only to return many of its troops to positions along its frontiers with Nato, but also to move ahead with ambitious plans to rearm and expand its military. 

   At present, the war is taking up perhaps 95 per cent of Russia’s operational ground forces. From marines assigned to the Pacific Fleet to the specialist [Arctic](https://inews.co.uk/topic/arctic?srsltid=AfmBOoqclzuOkJPP68ut3VtbLeB13WyPNfOrXlphQfwOn6N4PKVN-ejs&ico=in-line_link) warfare troops of the 200^(th) Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, units from across the Russian Federation were desperately assembled for the fight, once it became clear that Putin’s expectations of a quick and near-bloodless victory in 2022 were desperately far from the mark. 

   Many of these units are now just shadows of their former selves, while others have been reconfigured. The 200^(th) Brigade, for example, has been expanded this year into the 71^(st) Guards Motor Rifle Division. More than just the exigencies of the [conflict in Ukraine](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia-ukraine-war?srsltid=AfmBOor1tF6T614Cc-hWWepoRFgZfdjOZKalwjz5Lu3Lt2KjnAXy1Mjp&ico=in-line_link), these moves also foreshadow an ambitious plan for post-war expansion. 

   At the beginning of 2023, the then-defence minister Sergei Shoigu laid out a plan to increase the total Russian armed forces to 1.5 million personnel, an increase of 150,000 from its size at the start of the war. Putin claimed this had been achieved at the end of 2024, but [on Monday, Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton suggested](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/chief-defence-staff-russia-wants-attack-nato-4108959?ico=in-line_link) that in reality it was closer to 1.1 million. Nonetheless, once the terrible drain from Ukraine is staunched, there is little doubt that the Russians will continue to try and reach this new target.

   To this end, preparations are being made for the deployment of these extra troops once they are no longer committed to Ukraine.

   The 71^(st) Division, for example, is part of the 14^(th) Army Corps, headquartered in Murmansk on the Arctic Ocean coast, which is in the process of being expanded into a full Army that could threaten both Norway and [Finland](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/military-models-uk-prepare-war-4077409?ico=in-line_link) in the High North. Further south, Finland also faces the Leningrad Military District’s 6^(th) Army and the newly established 44^(th) Army Corps. Most of their troops may be in Ukraine, but the construction of new barracks, bunkers and firing positions continues, ready for their pivot back to facing Nato.

   This is a common pattern along the alliance’s eastern flank, with extra troops likely to be deployed in Belarus, close to the Polish border.

2. To paraphrase Shrek, talking to Putin: “You and what men?”

   To build a stronger army you need personnel and equipment. Neither of which are in huge supply anymore in Russia, since the start of the “Special Military Operation”.

3. What

4. plz keep believing the “don’t poke the bear” narrative bro plz

5. How can they afford it? Their economy is about to collapse.

6. Yet also near collapse lol

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