Shoigu announced the creation of a reserve army and an army corps

The reserve army will be formed in Russia by the end of this month, and an army corps will be formed in the near future – they will receive over 3,700 pieces of equipment. This was announced by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

“We are forming reserves as part of the army corps, the army, plus five regiments of the 20th tank army. Everything is going according to plan. In fact, by the end of June, we will complete the formation of the reserve army, and there we will soon complete the formation of the army corps,” the minister said (quote according to RIA Novosti). According to Shoigu, now five regiments have already been formed by 60%.

At the end of 2022, Shoigu at an expanded meeting of the board of the military department declaredthat the Russian army should be increased to 1.5 million military personnel (now the number is set at 1.151 million people). At the same time, he called for a gradual increase in the conscription age from 18 to 21 years, and the maximum age of conscription from 27 to 30 years.

Later, the relevant document was submitted to the State Duma by deputies from the Defense Committee, headed by Chairman Andrei Kartapolov. At the end of May, the government commission on legislative activity approved the initiative of deputies to gradually increase the draft age from 2024. On June 14, the draft law was accepted State Duma in the first reading.

According to him, a gradual increase in the draft age from 18 to 21 years is proposed, and the maximum age from 27 to 30 years. The draft age in 2024 will be from 19 to 30 years, in 2025 – from 20 to 30 years, and from January 1, 2026 – from 21 to 30 years. The explanatory note to the draft states that raising the lower limit of the draft age to 21 will make it possible to receive a guaranteed secondary general, secondary vocational or higher education.

At the same time, Russians who have reached the age of 18 after January 1, 2024 can be enrolled in military service even before the draft age, if they express such a desire and submit an application to the draft commission. Also, at will, military service can be done by citizens in the reserve at the age of 27–30 who have not previously completed it without legal grounds.