Russia is ready to raise the age of men eligible to be drafted for military service, a sign that Moscow likely expects the war in Ukraine to drag on.
Andrei Kartapolov, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma introduced a bill this week that would change the draft-eligible age range, raising the range of 21 to 30, from the current range of 18 to 27.
However, the bill calls for two transition years in which the minimum age will gradually increase, meaning the new age range will not take effect until 2025.
That means that over the next two years, more men could be called up for service.
Critics of the new legislation criticized the bill as a ploy to increase the number of men eligible to join the army and make up for Russia’s losses in the Ukraine. The Moscow Times reported.
The UK Ministry of Defense said in your daily intelligence update that the bill will probably pass and go into effect in January.
The ministry noted that Russia has prevented recruits from serving in its military operations in Ukraine, but estimated that at least hundreds were likely to have been deployed due to administrative errors or being forced to sign contracts.
An increase in recruits could also help free up a number of professional soldiers stationed elsewhere who could then fight in the war, the Defense Ministry said.
The bill comes just months after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed increasing Russia’s army from 1.15 million to 1.5 million, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin supported.
Putin ordered a partial mobilization in September of at least 300,000 reservists to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine, though the decree sparked mass protests in Russia and caused hundreds of thousands of men of fighting age to flee the country.
Ukraine’s battlefields have been brutal for Russian soldiers.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed on saturday that since Russia began its invasion on February 24, 2022, it has “liquidated” at least 164,200 soldiers.
Western intelligence sources estimate that each side has suffered approximately 150,000 casualties, killed and wounded, since the start of the war.
Last Sunday alone, kyiv said 1,090 Russian fighters were killed.
with pole wires
