Russians 21-30 years old will be called up for military service in the armyAgainst the background of the special operation, the Ministry of Defense decided to raise the draft age from 18 to 21 years, and the maximum age of conscription — from 27 to 30 years.
Other changes are expected. How they will serve in 2023 and how the terms of service in the Russian army have changed — in the material of Izvestia.
At what age will they be drafted into the army in 2023
Sergei Shoigu, the head of the Defense Ministry, proposed to raise the age of conscription into the Russian army from 18 to 21. The age limit for conscripts will also change by three years: they want to raise it from 27 to 30 years. It is proposed to raise the age in stages. Also, the Ministry of Defense plans to increase the number of Armed Forces to 1.5 million people from the current million, 695 thousand of which will be contractors.
Military service under the contract will be available to everyone from the first day of conscription. According to the current legislation, only graduates of universities and colleges can serve under a contract from the first day. School graduates must first spend three months on military service. However, it is by no means proposed to send young people directly to armed conflict zones — they study and gain experience for the first four months. If the training in the military accounting specialty lasts longer, then the contractor first completes the training course completely and only then begins combat duties.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexander Polegenko
Image source: iz.ru
The State Duma believes that the new rules can be approved as early as 2023. As explained by the head of the State Duma Committee on Defense Andrey Kartapolov, first you need to wait for an official proposal from the Ministry of Defense and amend the legislation. It is still unclear whether the proposals will affect the age of the spring draft-2023 or the autumn draft-2023.
How long will conscripts serve — a year or two years
In addition to raising the draft age, the State Duma has several times talked about increasing the service life from one to two years — as it was before 2008. The idea was voiced by the first deputy head of the International Committee of the Federation Council Vladimir Jabarov and Deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense Yuri Shvytkin. According to the deputies, an increase in the service life in the army will double the quality of training of military personnel. "The current format does not imply high-quality training of a soldier. It is very difficult and problematic to train and prepare during the year. But two years is quite an optimal option. This is a timely and necessary measure that needs to be implemented as soon as possible to increase the combat readiness of our army," explained Mikhail Sheremet, a State Duma deputy from Crimea.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexander Polegenko
Image source: iz.ru
At the same time, the Kremlin stressed that they record statements, but so far there is no talk of increasing the service life. "The Kremlin has no position on this, this topic has not been discussed. Of course, the main thing here is the opinion of the Ministry of Defense," said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia. The Ministry of Defense, in turn, did not make any statements about increasing the service life. The Federation Council questioned the need to return to a two-year system.
"The number of contractors affects the combat capability of the army. And an increase in conscription service life is unlikely to significantly affect the quality of troops," said Andrei Klishas, head of the SF Committee on Constitutional Legislation and state Construction.
Since 2008, the term of military service in Russia is one year. Before that, it was two years in the army and three years in the Navy.
Why did they decide to increase the draft age in 2023
Raising the age of conscription from 18 to 21 is dictated by the intention to attract mature people to the army, Deputy Yuri Shvytkin explained. According to him, by this age, citizens will have time to get an education and a specialty, grow up, and this, in turn, will strengthen the defense capability and increase the military potential of Russia.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexander Polegenko
Image source: iz.ru
Lieutenant General, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force for the Joint Air Defense System Aytech Bizhev also agrees with him. "It was already in the Soviet Union. They were called up at the age of 21 and served for three years. In my opinion and from the experience of past years, this will be very well done. A conscript at the age of 21 is already a mature person, not a schoolboy, not divorced from his mother. And one year of service is, of course, very little," Bizhev said in an interview with Izvestia. Today, this is extremely important, since we are practically in the enemy's ring, and the fighters should, of course, be more mature, the Lieutenant General stressed.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense stressed that the recruits of the autumn draft-2022 will not be sent to the zone of their own or serve in the newly annexed territories.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko
Image source: iz.ru
How Russians served in the army in different years
The regular conscription army in Russia arose under Peter I. Men over the age of 21 from peasants, burghers and other rural estates were called up for service. He had to serve for 15 years: 6 in the army and 9 years in reserve. The draft age was constantly adjusted, restrictions were periodically lifted altogether. So, in 1766-1831, men aged 17-35 were recruited, and in 1831-1855, men aged 20-25 were recruited. Since 1855, citizens of 20-30 years have become soldiers. In 1874, Emperor Alexander changed the rules by introducing all-family personal service. The army was drafted by lot and only those who turned 20 on January 1. Since 1888, the draft age has been raised by a year. This rule was in effect until the revolution of 1917. In the early years of the USSR, the draft age was lowered to 20 years, but soon it was raised again to 21 years. The maximum age of conscription was 30 years, after which the conscript was enlisted in the reserve. Since 1936, the conscription age was lowered to 19 years, and after the Second World War, service in the army was canceled. It was resumed only in 1967, children aged 18-27 were drafted into the army.
Maria Shaipova
