Putin Orders Largest Russian Conscription Drive in 14 Years
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Sunday ordering the conscription of 160,000 men for mandatory military service, marking the largest draft in Russia since 2011.
The spring campaign, which runs from April 1 to July 15, applies to Russian citizens aged 18 to 30 and represents an increase from the 150,000 conscripted last spring, according to state media reports.
Russia conducts biannual conscription drives in spring and fall, with each recruit required to serve for one year. This latest decree continues a pattern of gradually expanding draft numbers as Moscow works toward Putin’s goal of increasing Russia’s military to 1.5 million active personnel by 2026.
The Russian Defense Ministry insisted in a social media statement that “the forthcoming draft campaign is in no way connected with the special military operation in Ukraine.” Officials maintain that conscripts are not deployed to combat zones, though Putin previously acknowledged some were mistakenly sent to Ukraine early in the 2022 invasion.
The expanded conscription comes amid stalled ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed last week that Russia is deliberately prolonging peace talks while preparing new offensives in the Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
“They are dragging out negotiations and trying to drag the US into endless, meaningless discussions about fake conditions to buy time and then try to seize even more land,” Zelenskyy said last week.
US President Donald Trump, who is mediating the negotiations, expressed frustration Sunday over Putin’s demand for Zelenskyy’s removal as a condition for peace, but maintained the Russian leader genuinely wants to end the conflict.
The Russian government has recently implemented measures to streamline conscription, making it easier to draft young men who previously evaded service. Instead of conducting another large-scale mobilization like the unpopular September 2022 campaign that prompted over 261,000 Russians to flee the country, Moscow has relied on financial incentives to recruit contract soldiers for the Ukraine war.
Independent Russian journalists have verified over 100,000 Russian military deaths since the invasion began, while Ukrainian officials claim total Russian casualties approach one million. Ukraine has reported 46,000 troops killed and 380,000 wounded as of February.
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