President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to call in 160,000 new soldiers for military service by July 15. This is 10,000 more conscripts than last year and more than 25,000 more than in 2022.
Last year, Putin ordered the armed forces to grow to nearly 2.4 million people, of which 1.5 million are to be regular military – an increase of 180,000 new soldiers.
Until the autumn of 2022, a decree from 2017 still applied, which stipulated that the country should have "only" around one million soldiers, according to BBC.
"The upcoming conscription campaign has no connection to the special military operation in Ukraine", it says in a statement from the Ministry of Defense.
In 2023, Russia raised the upper age limit for compulsory military service, from 27 to 30 years.
