Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on a call-up for military training for the reservists, the document was published on the official legal information portal.
“I order to call up in 2021 Russian citizens who are in reserve to undergo military training in the Russian Federation’s armed forces and the federal security agencies,” the document read.
Under the decree, the Russian cabinet and regional authorities are instructed to ensure the implementation of the measures necessary for the conscription of Russian reservists to undergo military training, and for the organization of the training sessions. This decree comes into force from the day of its official publication, April 26.
Meanwhile, Russia came fourth in the ranking with its defense spending amounting to $61.7 billion and increasing by 2.5 percent compared to 2019. The US, China and India lead the table while the UK is in the fifth place, representing an increase of 2.9 percent over 2019.
“Nevertheless, Russia’s actual military spending in 2020 was 6.6 percent lower than its initial military budget, a larger shortfall than in previous years,” SIPRI noted.