Russia plans to recruit 400 thousand more conscripts to army
On April 1, Russia will begin a new recruitment of contract soldiers to the army. The Russian Defense Ministry has already sent out documents to the regions indicating the number of people to be contracted.
As reports Censor.NЕТ with reference to Radio Svobodа, several regional media sources publish a total of 400,000 contract soldiers who, according to the Defense Ministry's plans, are needed to replenish the army.
It is claimed that the bulk of the work will be done by military commissariats, and that the governors will ultimately be responsible for the implementation of the plan. According to the Defense Ministry's plans, 10,000 people are expected to enlist in Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions, and 9,000 in Perm Krai.
It has also been reported that on March 14, residents of the Voronezh region began to receive summonses to military commissariats again, as was the case in September 2022 after the so-called "partial mobilization" announced by Vladimir Putin. The regional authorities claim that this is done "solely to update military registration data." Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov continued to reject plans for a second wave of mobilization. "There are no such discussions in the Kremlin," Peskov said.
Rumors of a second wave of mobilization in Russia due to a lack of manpower to continue a full-scale war in Ukraine have been circulating in the media since late 2022. Intelligence agencies of several Western countries and the Ukrainian authorities have warned of such measures. The Kremlin has always denied these plans.
According to official data, since September 2022, more than 330,000 Russians in the reserve have been called up for military service under "partial mobilization." In late October, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported on the completion of the mobilization. After that, Putin also announced the end of the draft, but did not sign a corresponding decree. Thus, officially, mobilization in Russia is still in effect.
In January 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced a goal to increase the number of Russian troops to one and a half million within three years. Almost half of them are expected to be contract soldiers. At the same time, a bill was submitted to the State Duma the day before to raise the age limit for service in the conscript army from 27 to 30 years. This increase may be immediate, while the lower conscription age will be gradually raised from 18 to 21.
