Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his backing on Wednesday to a plan to boost the size of the armed forces by more than 30 per cent as he said Moscow needed to learn from and fix the problems it had suffered in Ukraine. At an end-of-year conference of Russia’s top military brass, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed beefing up the armed forces to 1.5 million combat personnel from 1.15 million. This was required “to guarantee the solving of problems related to Russia’s military security”, Shoigu told Putin at the televised event. He said 695,000 of the fighters should be professional contracted soldiers – as opposed to conscripts serving mandatory military service. Earlier in Wednesday’s meeting, Putin had promised to give Russia’s armed forces whatever they needed to support their military campaign in Ukraine. He said there were no financial limits on what the government would provide in terms of equipment and hardware. “We have no funding restrictions. The country and the government are providing everything that the army asks for,” he said. Ukraine’s Zelensky visits combat zone, Putin praises troops’ ‘self-denial’ He said the Nato military alliance was using its full capabilities against Russia and urged the assembled military leaders to draw on experience they had gained fighting in Syria and during what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. Hailing Russian soldiers and defence chiefs as “heroes”, he said Russia needed to take special note of the importance of drones in the conflict. Russia’s Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile – dubbed “Satan II”, and capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the United States – would be ready for deployment in the near future, he added. Putin acknowledged, not for the first time, that the call-up of 300,000 reservists that he ordered in September had not gone smoothly. “The partial mobilisation that was carried out revealed certain problems, as everyone well knows, which should be promptly addressed,” he said. Putin also said Russia’s defence ministry needed to take on board criticism of its actions in Ukraine and that a recent mobilisation drive had highlighted certain problems. “I ask the Ministry of Defence to be attentive to all civilian initiatives, including taking into account criticism and responding correctly, in a timely manner,” he said. “It is clear that the reaction of people who see problems – and there are always problems in such major, complex work – can be emotional, but we need to hear those who do not hush up the existing problems, but strive to contribute to their solution.” It was the latest in a series of recent comments in which Putin has acknowledged, albeit obliquely, the challenges his army is facing. On Tuesday, he told security officers that the situation in four regions of Ukraine that Russia has claimed as its own territory – something Kyiv rejects – was “highly complicated”. And on December 7, he said Russia could be fighting in Ukraine for a long time. Nearly 10 months on from its February 24 invasion, Russia occupies a huge swathe of eastern and southern Ukraine along a front stretching some 1,100km (685 miles) but has suffered a series of defeats that have swung the war’s momentum in favour of its smaller adversary. Even pro-Kremlin war bloggers have expressed anger and dismay at the performance of Russia’s generals, the chaotic conduct of the mobilisation and the ceding of territory Russia had captured – most notably last month when it pulled out of Kherson, the only provincial capital Russia had captured since beginning the invasion. “I am sure that the Ministry of Defence will be in constant dialogue with the people. Our strength has always been in the unity of the army and the people. So it is today,” Putin said.