MOSCOW — Russia’s parliament today extended the maximum age at which men can be mobilised to serve in the army by at least five years – in the case of the highest-ranking officers, up to the age of 70.
Last September, Russia announced its first mobilisation since World War Two, calling up more than 300,000 former soldiers in an often-chaotic emergency draft to support its war in Ukraine, a campaign that has been much longer and more attritional than Moscow had expected, and shows no sign of ending.
The law passed today allows men who have completed their compulsory service without any further commitment to be mobilised up to the age of 40, 50 or 55, depending on their category, the State Duma or lower house of parliament said on its website. In all cases the age limit was raised by five years.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said he plans to increase the basic number of combat personnel in service – professional contract soldiers and conscripts – to 1.5 million from 1.15 million.
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