On September 11, the Russian social sphere announced that “the age limit for military service has been raised following the recommendations of the Ministry of Defense. The department’s experts expressed their opinions in relation to the demographic situation and the needs of military development, this was accepted by the legislators”, the spokesperson of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, also announced in an interview with the RBC television channel.
“The conscription age scale adequacy is, of course, determined by specialists, mainly the Ministry of Defense. And experts analyze the situation, this is connected with both the demographic situation and the needs of the construction military, express their judgments, some of their recommendations, which are accepted or not taken into account by the legislators. In this case, they were recognized as justified, so the laws were adopted in the form in which they exist now,” the Kremlin representative said, responding when asked why the age limit for the draft was raised.
In early August, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law setting the conscription age for military service from 18 to 30. Compared to the previous rules, the maximum age limit for military service has been moved by 3 years: from 27 to 30 years. The lower limit remains unchanged. The law will come into force on January 1, 2024.
The demographic factor is also important for Russia given that births are decreasing, which is why Russian policy has been activated to grant citizenship to new Russians and immigrants and job offers to the regions of the former Soviet Union are increasing. The latest example is the opening of AvtoVAZ factories to Uzbek citizens. So the increase in military service means that Moscow more or less keeps that one million five hundred thousand soldiers available every five years.
Not only does the mobilization a few months before the presidential elections risk becoming a factor of instability, a sort of black swan of the political regime. After all, in essence, neither Putin, nor political strategists and administrators, nor regionalists need mobilization. According to some, neither Putin’s consent nor that of his administration is necessary for the mobilization. The mobilization resumed by order of the Ministry of Defense and notifications from the military commissioners. And, on the contrary, Putin cannot sign a decree to end the mobilization, since this would entail the need for demobilization, which is impossible within the Northern Military District. Therefore, a mobilization campaign, especially in a hardcore format, will not only ruin Putin’s election campaign but could demolish the entire political regime, with successful technological breakthroughs.
Also on the subject of military policy, military retirees who have been mobilized or contracted to participate in the Military Military District will receive 100% compensation for their military pension.
And still on the subject of mobilization, the mobilized Russians will not return home until the end of the special operation. The head of the defense committee of the State Duma, Andrei Kartapolov, spoke about this on September 15. “They will return home after the completion of the special military operation. There is no rotation,” Kartapolov told Lente.ru, stressing that those mobilized have the right to leave after every six months of service.
On the other side of the barricade in Ukraine, the military is starting to run out, people go to the front even when they are 58 years old and risk never returning. Because the front line, now devoid of heavy vehicles, is made up of infantry. The United States, however, promised rapid training for Ukrainian pilots on the F-16. The director of the US Air National Guard, Lieutenant General Michael Law, said that the first Ukrainian pilots to arrive for training on the F-16 fighter jets they will be able to complete the program in three months, but will fly combat missions later.
After completing training in the United States, the Ukrainians will have to return to Europe to undergo further training at NATO, he noted. The first Ukrainian pilots are expected to arrive at the Morris Air National Guard base in Tucson, Arizona, before October.
Gen. David Alwyn, a candidate to become the next commander of the US Air Force, told senators during the hearing that on average F-16 training could take six to nine months.
Graziella Giangiulio
