VLAD'S ARMY

Paranoid Putin bolsters national guard to 350,000 over coup fear

- CHRIS HUGHES

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin is so worried about internal security that his national guard is now five times the size of the British Army.

The Rosgvardia Russian National Guard has been boosted by former Wagner mercenaries to 350,000, compared to the UK's 73,000 troops.

Soldiers of the Rosgvardia are also equipped with heavier weapons and armour, unlike conventional forces in Russia's military.

In June last year, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led a march on Moscow, staging an attempted coup because he was angry about the lack of support his forces in Ukraine had been given by defence bosses.