Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov says the reduction will be achieved by 2012 instead of the original target of 2016, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

Russia has downsized its armed forces from 4.5 million during the Soviet era to about 1.2 million.

Serdyukov told the news agency that the plan will include a reduction in the number of officers from 450,000 to 300,000.

Most of those reductions will be the result of retirements, he said.

RIA Novosti says the Russian General Staff is facing an upcoming large-scale reshuffle aimed at optimizing the number of senior officers and generals serving at headquarters in Moscow.