Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed «gradually» increasing the age of conscription for military service from 18 to 21 years, and raising the age limit to 30 instead of 27. The ministry's collegium was broadcast with the participation of President Vladimir Putin on the Kremlin's telegram channel.
Shoigu added that it is necessary to “provide the opportunity, at the request of citizens (conscripts — MZ) to enter military service under the contract <…> from the first day of joining the service. Now conscripts need to serve at least three months to switch to a contract.
The head of the Defense Ministry called this a response to «NATO's desire to build up military potential near Russian borders and expand the alliance through Finland and Sweden.» For this, he instructed to create «an appropriate grouping of troops in the north-west of Russia.»
Shoigu also proposed to «ensure the military security» of the country to increase the number of Armed Forces to 1.5 million troops. In the summer, Putin increased their number by 137,000 to 1,151,000 people, and the authorized strength of the Armed Forces to 2,40,000 people. » class=»mz-publish-photo__image» data-type=»photo» data-slate-custom=»{«src»:»https://s3.zona.media/i/d8e890a7a732298a011d9762e220f923″,»alt» ;:»»»,»imgSrc»:»https://s3.zona.media/i/d8e890a7a732298a011d9762e220f923″,»migrationId»:»1646998844495″,»html»:null}» alt=» 1″ />
Screenshot from Shoigu's presentation on raising the military age