lower limit of military age will not be raised from 18 to 21 – Kommersant

The head of the State Duma Committee on Defense Andrei Kartapolov said that the lower limit of the draft age will remain the same, conscripts into the Russian army will be from 18 to 30 years. The norms will come into force from the spring call.

“The main amendment is that the upper limit is 30 years. It was decided to leave the lower limit of the draft age at 18, because a lot of guys want to go to serve at the age of 18,” said Mr. Kartapolov.

Amendment was supported by the committee. It will not affect the autumn call. At the same time, the draft age will be raised to 30 years from January 1, 2024. “Who turns 27 in 2023, even on December 31, will not fall under the new law,” Andrey Kartapolov explained.

Initially, it was assumed that the bar of military age would be raised gradually. The lower bar of military age was to be changed in stages, and the upper bar – immediately. So, in 2024, men aged 19 to 30 were to be drafted, in 2025 – from 20 to 30 years, in 2026 – from 21 to 30 years.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed changing the draft age last December at an expanded meeting of the Defense Ministry collegium with President Vladimir Putin. At the same meeting, the minister proposed to increase the size of the Russian armed forces to 1.5 million people. At the same time, about 700 thousand of them are contract soldiers.

For more information about what happens after the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, read online broadcasts “b”.

Anastasia Larina