Putin is embarking on an aggressive hiring drive to rejuvenate Russia's army. But he can't sustain it, experts say.

Nick Reynolds, a land warfare research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the increase is consistent with Russia's ongoing war planning. In February, Reynolds coauthored a commentary that suggested that 2025 would be a make-or-break year for Russia. Russia believes it can sustain current troop and equipment losses through 2025, with the belief that "victory should be achieved by 2026," they wrote.