Ukraine warning of major Russian attack on first war anniversary ‘too gimmicky’ even for Moscow, say experts

Professor Michael Clarke, former director-general of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), put the number closer to 250,000. He believes Mr Reznikov may be conflating a series of statements made by the Russian defence ministry in recent weeks signalling its intention to expand the army to 500,000 troops by 2026, about double the size it is now – which is in the region of 280,000. “They can’t train and equip people in those numbers,” Professor Clarke told i. “They did mobilise 300,000, but the figures seem to vary on how many of those were sent to the front.”