Russia seeks to raise conscription age to 30, keep lower limit at 18

A bill currently considered by Russia’s lower house that seeks to raise the mandatory conscription age to 30 will not include a transition period, Interfax news agency reports. This means that the lower limit will stand at 18, despite previous plans to gradually raise it to 21.

UPDATE 3:38 PM UTC+3
The State Duma has passed the bill raising the upper age limit for mandatory conscription to 30 years.

It also passed a bill introducing fines up to 30,000 rubles (€300) for failing to come to the draft office upon receiving call-up papers.

The bill also introduces fines up to 500,000 rubles (€5,000) for organisations that fail to cooperate with draft offices during mobilisation.

The Russian State Duma published the document on its database. If the bill is passed, the changes will come into force on 1 January 2024.

On 21 July, the lower house’s defence committee approved an amendment increasing the upper age limit for mandatory conscription to 30 years. Head of the committee Andrey Kartapolov stated that the amendment would not apply to the 2023 autumn conscription.

In June, the State Duma adopted a bill on gradual increase of the conscription age. It was claimed that it would eventually stand at 21—30 years instead of the current 18—27. The changes were reported to be gradual, adding one year to both the lower and the upper limit, thus finishing the reform by 2026.