Putin calls in his father’s army: Russia mobilizes 70-year-olds as it prepares 100,000 more men for war in Ukraine
Russia has raised the maximum age of its soldiers to ten years as it prepares 100,000 more soldiers for the war in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin is building a new army of troops to attack the northern sector of Ukraine’s frontline.
Under a recently approved law, the highest-ranking reservists can be recalled to service up to age 70 instead of the previous age of 65.
Men who have completed their compulsory service can re-enter the army until age 55 instead of 45.
It comes after tens of thousands of men fled the country in September when Putin ordered mobilization without warning.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a statement on TV in Moscow about Wagner’s actions,
A Ukrainian soldier gestures as he fires at Russian positions on the frontline in the Zaporizhia region.
With their lowest birthrate in 23 years, a recent alarming report revealed that at least 47,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the war in Ukraine began.
That compares starkly to the 6,000 soldiers killed during the decade-long war between Russia and Afghanistan.
Ukrainian army spokesman Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty said Russia had ordered the Storm-Z ex-convict battalion to prepare for combat and was firing more than 500 shells a day around Kupyansk.
He said: ‘The enemy has concentrated a very strong force. More than 100,000 personnel, more than 900 tanks, more than 550 artillery systems and 370 rocket salvo systems.’
In April it was revealed that Putin plans to deter draft dodgers by creating a new digital recruitment system.
Currently, draft notices must be delivered in person in Russia, which many Russian men have managed by refusing to take enlistment orders and fleeing the country.
Last month, Putin cried at a rally to Russia’s military and security services, telling them they had halted a slide into civil war when Wagner’s mercenaries revolted and marched in Moscow and observed a minute’s silence for those killed in the brief conflict.
Addressing some 2,500 members of Russia’s security forces, National Guard and military units, he said the people and the armed forces stood together in opposition to the rebel mercenaries.
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