Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has initiated the largest military conscription in Russia since 2011, calling up 160,000 men aged 18-30 as part of efforts to expand the country’s military.
This spring call-up, set to last for one year, comes months after Putin announced plans to increase Russia’s military personnel to nearly 2.39 million, including 1.5 million active servicemen—a rise of 180,000 over the next three years.
Vice Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky has confirmed that the new conscripts will not be deployed to Ukraine for what Russia terms its “special military operation.”
However, previous reports have shown conscripts being killed in fighting within Russia’s border regions, and some were sent to battle in Ukraine during the early stages of the full-scale war.
According to the BBC, the current draft, which runs from April to July, follows continued hostilities despite US efforts to broker a ceasefire.
On Tuesday, Ukraine reported that a Russian assault on a power facility in the southern city of Kherson left 45,000 people without electricity. Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have captured another Ukrainian village, Rozlyiv, in the Donetsk region.
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Conscription in Russia typically occurs in the spring and autumn, but this year’s call-up of 160,000 is 10,000 higher than last year’s figures for the same period.
Additionally, since the start of 2024, the upper age limit for the draft has been raised from 27 to 30, expanding the pool of young men eligible for service. Notifications for conscription will be sent through both postal service and the state services website, Gosuslugi.
Beyond its regular conscription, Russia has also recruited large numbers of contract soldiers and turned to North Korea for additional recruits. This military expansion comes in response to heavy losses in Ukraine, with over 100,000 Russian soldiers confirmed killed, and the true figure potentially much higher.
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