Vladimir Putin signed a decree directing Russia to begin it’s annual spring conscription process this week, meaning that up to about 150,000 18- to 27- year old Russian men may be conscripted into the Russian military in coming weeks. These conscripts will serve the mandatory 1 year of service.
This is not a special conscription event. Russia typically does a spring and fall conscription drive of about this size every year as it’s normal practice. The last such conscription took place last October for the fall conscription event.
According to Russian law, these conscripts cannot be sent to serve outside of Russia. And indeed in a statement, Vladimir Tsimlyansky, Rear Admiral of the General Staff, pronounced that none of these conscripts will be going to Ukraine. However, there has been some occasions of playing a bit loose with that and in the past some of these conscripts have indeed found themselves in Ukraine. In some other cases, conscripts have found themselves subject to pressure tactics to get them to sign up for full military contracts — which, if signed, of course makes them eligible to serve in Ukraine. And then there’s the whole Russian claim that Ukraine IS Russia.
So it will remain to be seen whether or how many of these hapless conscripts might actually find themselves someone at or near the front line in Ukraine in coming months.
In other Russian invasion news, yesterday Russia reacted to a call by Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko for an immediate unconditional ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia by saying that a ceasefire would not allow Russia to achieve the goals of it’s “special military oepration” in Ukraine.
Also yesterday, the International Monetary Fund announced a 4-year, $15.6 billion loan program for Ukraine, intended to help support Ukraine’s economy as it combats the Russian invasion.