Putin calls up another 150,000 Russians for military service
This is Russia's highest conscription drive in eight years.
Vladimir Putin has called up yet another 150,000 people for statutory military service in what is Russia’s highest conscription drive in eight years.
There are two conscription campaigns per year, in spring and fall. All men aged 18 to 30 have one year of mandatory military service, although many search and find ways to avoid it amid the war in Ukraine.
Russia has a significant advantage on the frontline, mainly due to the large number of soldiers it deploys, but also munitions.
It is recruiting about 30,000 additional personnel a month, so that it can continue to absorb the losses and wear down Ukrainian defences, a briefing by the British Ministry of Defence said over the weekend.
In July, Russia’s lower house of parliament raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30 from 27. The new legislation came into effect on January 1, 2024.
Compulsory military service has long been a sensitive issue in Russia, where many men go to great lengths to avoid being conscripted during the twice-yearly call-up periods.
The Kremlin has promised that those forcibly enlisted for one-year military service will not be sent to the conflict zone in Ukraine, but families have little faith in the government.
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