Russia** Vladimir Putin said on February 2 that Russia has created more than 500,000 new jobs in the defense sector to meet soaring demand on the battlefield, the Moscow Times reported on February 4, 2024.
The Kremlin, for its part, has invested significant resources in a full-scale attack on Ukraine, and the defense sector has accounted for a large part of the economic growth hit by sanctions.
"In the past year and a half alone, 520,000 new jobs have been created in the defense sector," Putin said at a political forum with defense workers in the western city of Tula. ”
"In order to succeed on the battlefield today, it is necessary to react quickly and adequately to what is happening there," Putin said. So, whoever does it faster wins. ”
After months of fighting on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, neither Russia nor Ukraine has been able to achieve significant territorial gains, and the battlefield situation is also stalemate, Moscow is pouring more manpower into the conflict and increasing production.
Last year, the Kremlin unveiled plans to increase military spending by a massive 68 percent, more than education, environmental protection and health care combined.
The increase in military spending has stimulated demand in the Russian economy, kept workers away from labor-starved civilian industries, and pushed up Russian inflation.
Unemployment has fallen to record lows since Russia launched its military operation against Ukraine nearly two years ago, and several non-defense sectors have reported chronic worker shortages.