In a dramatic escalation of Russia’s military efforts, President Vladimir Putin has ordered the largest military conscription in over a decade, enlisting 160,000 additional troops. This historic move, reported by the Kyiv Independent, marks the first such large-scale call-up since 2011 and signals Russia’s growing commitment to its ongoing military operations in Ukraine.
The decree, which was officially published on Russia’s government website, affects citizens aged 18 to 30 and includes conscripting soldiers, sailors, sergeants, and non-commissioned officers whose service term has ended. The latest conscription wave follows Russia’s traditional biannual recruitment cycles, with the autumn conscription of 2024 already seeing 133,000 new recruits.
Putin’s move to raise the conscription age limit from 27 to 30, signed into law earlier this year, expands the pool of eligible recruits. As of December 2024, Russia’s armed forces have swelled to nearly 2.4 million personnel, with approximately 1.5 million in active military service.
This announcement comes as Russia faces growing international condemnation for its actions in Ukraine, with tensions between Russia and Western powers continuing to rise. The Russian Foreign Ministry has strongly opposed any potential deployment of Western peacekeepers to Ukraine, warning that such a move could spark direct conflict with NATO.
These remarks coincide with a major summit in Paris, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, where leaders from nearly 30 countries, along with NATO and EU officials, discussed deepening their support for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged European leaders to unite in defense of Ukraine, stressing the importance of long-term security guarantees to safeguard the nation’s future.
With this dramatic military expansion and continued tensions on the international stage, the situation in Ukraine remains highly volatile, and the world watches closely as the conflict continues to unfold.
