Putin orders massive draft as Russia ramps up military forces
12:44 PM EDT, September 30, 2024
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree for the autumn military draft. According to the document published by the Kremlin, from October to the end of December, the ranks of the Russian army will be reinforced by 133,000 people.
According to the decree published on Monday on the official legal information portal, from October 1 to December 31, 133,000 people will be conscripted into the army.
Mobilization in Russia
It concerns "citizens of the Russian Federation aged 18 to 30 who are not in the reserve and are subject to conscription for military service," it reads.
On January 1, 2024, the upper age limit for conscription into military service in Russia was raised. However, the new rules do not apply to those who will turn 27 by the end of 2023, as well as those who are 28 or 29 and are already in reserve.
It should also be noted that the new autumn draft is the first in which the age has been raised to 30.
Putin expands the army
In mid-September this year, Vladimir Putin issued the third decree related to increasing the army size since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. From December 1, the number of active soldiers is to increase to 1.5 million, with a total of 2.389 million people in the armed forces.
Earlier, the Deputy Head of the Organizational and Mobilization Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Tsymlyansky, reported that "the period of military service for conscripts will remain unchanged at 12 months, and the departure of conscripts from assembly points is planned for October 15, 2024."
"All conscripts will be directed to military service at the permanent deployment points of formations and military units on the territory of the Russian Federation," he said.
Record military spending
On the same day, the draft budget for 2025-2027 was submitted to the Russian State Duma. The Russian government intends to increase next year's defense budget to 13.2 trillion rubles (152 billion dollars), which is 6.2% of GDP, up from 10.4 trillion rubles planned for the current year.
Russia's defense spending is expected to decrease only in 2026 – to 5.6% of GDP – and in 2027 – to 5.1% of GDP.
"This means that the military budget consumes 6.2% of the country's GDP, and the share of military expenditures – about 30% – will remain at an unprecedented level since Soviet times," commented the portal The Moscow Times.
