(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine autumn conscription campaign, calling up 130,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the government website showed on Friday.
All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service between the ages of 18 and 27, or equivalent training while in higher education.
Putin’s move comes as Russia’s armed forces press on with their “special military operation” in Ukraine, now in its 20th month.
The president, who signed an order in March calling up 147,000 people for the spring campaign, said this month he was bracing for a long war in Ukraine.
In July Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30 from 27. The new legislation comes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Last year, Russia announced a plan to boost its professional and conscripted combat personnel by more than 30% to 1.5 million, an ambitious task made harder by its heavy but undisclosed casualties in Ukraine.
Ukraine says it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its land. The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia – an aim Kremlin officials say is an unrealistic pipedream.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Gareth Jones)
