 "Putin orders mass conscription of 160,000, Russia’s largest campaign since 2011")
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday ordering the conscription of 160,000 men for compulsory military service, the largest spring draft in 14 years, state-owned media TASS reported.
Under the legislation, men aged 18 to 30 will be called up for service from April 1 to June 15. The decree also mandates the discharge of conscripts whose service terms have ended.
Putin directed the government, regional authorities and conscription commissions to implement the draft. Russia holds conscription drives twice a year, in spring and fall, with eligible men required to serve for one year.
The last time conscription numbers exceeded this level was in 2011, when 203,000 people were drafted, according to the Moscow Times. In 2024, Russia drafted 150,000 recruits in the spring and 133,000 in the fall.
The Russian government has recently introduced measures to streamline the conscription process, making it easier to draft young men, including those who previously avoided service.
Compulsory military service has always been a contentious topic in Russia, with many men going to tremendous efforts to avoid receiving conscription papers during the twice-yearly call-up periods.
Conscripts cannot legally be deployed to fight outside Russia and were exempted from a limited mobilisation in 2022 that gathered at least 300,000 men with previous military training to fight in Ukraine - although some conscripts were sent to the front in error.
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