MOSCOW. Jan 8 (Interfax-AVN) - At the end of his meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov briefed the head of state on the army's progress in 2002. President Putin is also Commander-in-Chief of Russia's armed forces.
The minister said that by January 1, the armed forces had approximately 1.16 million servicemen and 860,000 civilian personnel.