Russia considers raising conscription age to enlist more people within next 2 years

A draft law submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation [the Russian parliament – ed.] proposes to gradually raise the conscription age in Russia: from 18 to 21 years old at the lower end, and from 27 to 30 years old at the upper end. It envisages a transitional period of mixed conscription for military service.

Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned news outlet; BBC News Russian 

Details: Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu first proposed changing the conscription age in Russia in December 2022, during a Defence Ministry meeting also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The draft law was submitted to the State Duma by Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Defence Committee, and his two deputies, Andrey Krasov and Yury Shvitkin.

The draft law proposes to gradually raise the conscription age to 21 at the lower end and to 30 at the higher end, shifting the conscription age by three years.

The law's sponsors explained that the lower limit is being raised to ensure that conscripts "obtain secondary general, secondary vocational and higher education". Since this will result in the decrease in the number of conscripts, the upper age limit is being raised accordingly to "compensate" for that.

The draft law envisages a transitional period lasting until 2026. In 2024, Russian citizens aged 19–30 will be called; in 2025 it will concern those aged 20–30, and in 2026, the Defence Ministry will draft those aged 21–30.

When unveiling the bill, Kartapolov said that it would take one to three years to raise Russia's conscription age, but the process would start as early as spring 2023.

The bill creates legal conditions for adults to join the army before the age of conscription if they wish to do so.

It also stipulates that the deferrals already granted will be valid until their expiration or until no longer having grounds.

For reference: According to Russian law, conscripts cannot be sent to combat zones, but Russia has used conscripts in the war from the first days of its invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin euphemistically calls a "special military operation". 

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