Some 280,000 people have signed up so far this year for professional service with Russia’s military, the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, former President Dmitry Medvedev, said on Sunday.

Visiting Russia’s Far East, Medvedev said he was meeting local officials to work on efforts to beef up the armed forces.

“According to the ministry of defence, since January 1, about 280,000 people have been accepted into the ranks of the Armed Forces on a contract basis, including reservists,” state news agency TASS quoted Medvedev as saying.

Last year, Russia announced a plan to expand its combat personnel by more than 30 per cent to 1.5 million, an ambitious task made harder by its heavy but undisclosed casualties in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.