MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/.Russian President Vladimir Putin has set the personnel strength of the country’s Armed Forces at 1.897 million, with the number of servicemen increasing by 13,630, according to the presidential decree posted on the government’s legal information web portal on Wednesday..

The decree enters into force on the day of its signing.

From July 1, 2017, the Armed Forces personnel will increase to 1.903 million, with the number of service members remaining unchanged at 1.013 million.

Under the previous presidential decree published in July 2016, the Armed Forces organic strength totaled 1.885 million, including 1 million servicemen.

Therefore, the Russian Army’s numerical strength has increased by about 12,000 service members from last year (by 18,000 from July 1).