By law, all men in Russia must perform a year of military service between the ages of 18 and 27 or receive equivalent training while studying at university. Putin’s decree comes as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine enters its 20th month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with former senior commander of the Wagner mercenary group Andrei Troshev and Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov in Moscow, Russia on September 28, 2023. Photo: Sputnik
President Putin, who signed an order in March calling for 147,000 people to join the spring offensive, said this month he was preparing for a long war in Ukraine.
In July, Russia's lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can join the military from 27 to 30. The new law takes effect on January 1, 2024. Last year, Russia announced plans to increase its professional fighting force and conscripts by more than 30% to 1.5 million people.
On Friday, President Putin also met with one of the former top commanders of the Wagner mercenary group, Andrei Troshev, and discussed how best to use “volunteer units” in the Ukraine war.
The Kremlin said the meeting took place late Thursday. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who has been traveling in recent months to several countries where Wagner mercenaries operate, was also present at the meeting.
In a conversation with Troshev, President Putin spoke about how "volunteer units can carry out various combat missions, of course, above all in the zone of special military operations."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA news agency that Troshev now works at the Russian Defense Ministry. Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported that just days after the Wagner mutiny, Putin asked Troshev to replace Prigozhin.
Wagner, which once had tens of thousands of mercenaries, is best known for capturing the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut in May in the bloodiest battle of the war.
After the fall of Bakhmut, Wagner units withdrew from Ukraine. Some Wagner fighters signed up to serve in the official Russian army while many others moved to other private military companies.
Huy Hoang (according to Sputnik, TASS, Reuters)
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