On June 26, Russian MP Leonid Slutsky proposed creating a professional army to avoid dependence on private military companies. On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with heads of law enforcement agencies in the wake of the Wagner riots.
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| On June 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the heads of law enforcement agencies to analyze the situation in the country following developments related to Wagner forces. Illustration photo: Wagner soldiers in Rostov on June 24. (Source: Reuters) |
According to Leonid Slutsky, who has participated in several negotiations related to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Moscow needs a contract army of at least 7 million soldiers and civilian specialists in addition to the current conscript army to protect the country's security.
On his Telegram page, MP Leonid Slutsky stressed: “Russia does not need any private military companies. There are problems in the regular army, but private military companies cannot solve them.”
In late 2022, President Putin supported a proposal to increase the military from 1.15 million to 1.5 million soldiers, including 695,000 contract soldiers.
The plan to create a 7 million-strong contract army would require huge budgetary outlays. Meanwhile, Russia’s economy , crippled by war and repeated Western sanctions, shrank by 2.2% last year and is expected to recover slightly this year.
On the same day, June 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the heads of law enforcement agencies to analyze the situation in the country after developments related to Wagner forces.
At the meeting, Mr Putin thanked the agencies “for the work done over the past few days”.
“I gathered you to discuss the situation that has developed so far, as well as to talk about the tasks ahead of us, as a result of the analysis of events that have taken place in the country,” Putin said.
The meeting was attended by Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Chief of the Presidential Administration Anton Vaino, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Director of the FSB (Federal Security Service of Russia) Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the National Guard Viktor Zolotov, Director of the Federal Protective Service Dmitry Kochnev and Chairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin. Notably, the presence of Defense Minister Shoigu.
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