Russia ensures even oldies can be soldiers

The Russian Parliament has decided to extend the maximum age of military mobilisation by five years which would effectively mean that soldiers as old as 70 can now be called up on the battlefield.

The Russian State Duma announced on Tuesday that it has passed a new law raising the maximum age of mobilisation to serve in the military. The law would allow the Russian army to hire men until the age of 40, 50 or 55 depending on their category.

Along with this, the parliament also rose the upper age limit for men who have already signed up in the military to receive training and a stipend when their service ends.

Men serving in the military in the highest ranks can now be called up until the age of 70 while soldiers with lower ranks would have to serve until they turn 55 rather than 45.

Russian military mobilisation highest in 2022

Last month, the Russian army chief said that the partial military mobilisation carried out in 2022 is the biggest one since World War II.

Colonel-General Yevgeny Burdinsky, the head of the Russian General Staff’s Main Mobilization Department, said that over 55,000 citizens were called up from the reserve in 1979 to serve in the war in Afghanistan.

However, in 2022 over 300,000 citizens were reportedly hired by the defence to fight in the war with Ukraine.

The mobilisation resulted in an exodus of young Russians from the country, who left in fear of getting called up to fight in the war.

This is how Russia is finding more soldiers

In an effort to get more men to sign up amid fears among citizens, Russia has been asking people to participate in the country’s defence and work as contract soldiers.

“If we were really at war with the full might of NATO, then mobilization would be logical and we’d all go off to defend the motherland. But what’s the point of doing that at the moment?”  a source told Moscow Times.

“Mobilized troops are not required to fulfill their civic duty forever,” the source added.