Desperate Russia in new draft move as Putin keeps losing soldiers | World | News
Russian politicians have approved a bill mandating conscription all year round, not just in autumn and spring. As the war in Ukraine approaches its fourth year, Russia is seeking to replenish its ranks in its armed forces.
The law, which was approved in the third and final reading by the lower house, the State Duma, now needs to be reviewed by the upper house and signed by Putin. This would then allow conscripts to call up conscripts for medical examinations and other procedures at any time of the year. Under current rules, Russian men aged 18-30 are obliged to serve in the military for a year, but many avoid conscription thanks to deferments given, for example, to students and those with chronic diseases. The army called up between 130,000 and 160,000 soldiers in each round of conscription.
The bill’s authors said the measure aims to relieve pressure on military service branches and streamline their activities, including conducting physical examinations and assigning draftees to various military branches.
While the bill would make conscription a year-round process, it stipulates that only a few people will enter military service during the spring and summer months, as before.
Russian officials say the army does not use soldiers in Ukraine, relying on volunteers and reservists mobilized for action. However, human rights advocates and media reports state that the army is trying to encourage or force many soldiers to sign contracts voluntarily.
Russia, which had an army of 1 million when Mr. Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, gradually increased its size as the conflicts dragged on.
Last year, Putin ordered the number of active soldiers to be increased by 180 thousand to 1.5 million. Last month he said the army had more than 700,000 soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
As part of efforts to combat draft evasion, authorities launched an electronic registration system for conscripts to serve online summons in some regions of Russia earlier this year. They also imposed a series of legal restrictions on those who ignore the call, including banning bank transactions, suspending driver’s licenses and preventing travel abroad.
Amid military setbacks in Russia early in the conflict, Putin ordered the “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists in autumn 2022; This was an unpopular move that led hundreds of thousands of people to flee abroad to avoid being called into service.
The Kremlin’s efforts to boost the ranks come as Mr. Putin continues to resist U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for a quick ceasefire and pursues the Kremlin’s maximalist demands, which include Ukraine withdrawing from four regions that Russia has annexed but never fully captured. Kyiv and its Western allies rejected Putin’s demands.
Russia has lost more than 1.3 million soldiers since the start of the war in Ukraine, including 1,060 on Monday alone, according to Kiev. The Kremlin does not share war losses.
