430 Thousand Volunteers Register To The Russian Military, Putin Orders Troops To Continue To Advance In The Battlefield

Russian/TASS military

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin said the large number of people who registered for the Russian military voluntarily changed the wave of Ukraine's war for Moscow's benefit. Putin hopes his troops will continue to advance on the battlefield.

This was conveyed by Putin in his speech at the Ministry of Defense, Monday, December 16.

"I want to emphasize that last year was an important year in achieving the objectives of special military operations (in Ukraine)," Putin told the generals.

Russian troops adhere to strategic initiatives across contact lines. "This year alone, 189 residential centers have been acquired," he said.

Putin said some 430,000 Russians had signed military contracts this year, an increase from about 300,000 people in the previous year, a factor he said was very important to Russia's war efforts.

This volunteer wave doesn't stop. Thanks to this we see a turning point on the front line," Putin said.

Andrei Belousov, Russian defense minister, said Russian troops had pushed Ukrainian troops out of an area of nearly 4,500 square kilometers (1,737 square miles) this year and advanced an average of 30 square kilometers (11.5 square miles) per day.

Belousov also said Russia's military planning should be prepared for any scenario, including the most extreme scenarios such as potential conflicts with NATO in Europe in the coming decade.

Putin in his speech accused the West of pushing Russia to the "red line". Russia will respond.

"They (West leaders) are just scaring their own people so we will attack someone there under the pretext of the threat of Russian myth," Putin said.

"The tactics are very simple, they push us to the 'red line', which we can't back down, we start responding," Putin said.