Russia seeks more military conscripts as war in Ukraine grinds on
- Russian lawmakers backed legislation increasing the maximum age limit for compulsory military service to 30
- It comes as Moscow seeks to replenish its forces on the front line in Ukraine without resorting to another mobilisation
Russia is seeking to widen the pool of soldiers it can potentially draw on to fight in Ukraine.
The lower house of parliament on Tuesday approved a law raising the upper age limit for military conscripts from 27 to 30 years under rules that would come into effect in 2024 after being endorsed by the upper house and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.
“This law was drafted for a big war, for general mobilisation and this already smacks of a big war,” Andrei Kartapolov, head of the lower chamber’s defence committee, said in a broadcast debate before the vote.
While Russia has said it won’t send conscripts to fight in Ukraine, they can be mobilised once they finish their draft.
The changes would mean would mean an extra 2.4 million potential conscripts will become liable for 12-month military service, according to Igor Yefremov, a researcher and specialist in demographics at the Gaidar Institute in Moscow.