Russia raises age limit for military service up to 30

Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed legislation increasing the age of conscription for military service from 27 to 30, which will see more citizens serving the mandatory one-year service.

"From Jan 1, 2024, citizens aged 18 to 30 will be called up for military service," the lower house of parliament said after the bill was passed.

Previously, one-year military service was mandatory in Russia for men aged 18 to 27 with conscription carried out twice a year.

The bill was passed by the State Duma in the first reading. In the second reading, lawmakers voted only for the change in the upper limit and said they were dropping an initial proposal to gradually shift the conscription age to between 21 and 30.

"The wording of the draft law changed because the demographic situation is serious and affects the mobilization of resources," Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma's defense affairs committee, told the Interfax news agency.

The Russian Defense Ministry proposed these amendments in December 2022.

The bill has to be approved by the Council of the Russian Federation and then signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kartapolov said Russians who have turned 27 by the end of 2023 wouldn't be conscripted but would be considered reserve officers.

The former general said the changes would formalize the creation of militias.

Last year, Russia announced a plan to boost its professional and conscripted combat personnel by more than 30 percent to 1.5 million.

Also on Tuesday, the Duma passed a bill significantly increasing fines on those failing to show up at the enlistment office after a draft notice is received. They will be risking a fine of up to 30,000 roubles ($330) when the law comes into force on Oct 1. Currently, the maximum fine is 3,000 roubles.

Conscripts cannot legally be deployed to fight outside Russia, and they were exempted from a limited mobilization last autumn that gathered at least 300,000 men with previous military training to fight Ukrainian troops.

The legislation passed on Tuesday gives Russian governors the power to set up regional paramilitary units during periods of mobilization or when martial law is in force.

Repairing bridge

Meanwhile, Russia has extended the deadline for repairing the Crimean bridge damaged in an attack until Dec 31, the government said in a statement.

A Ukrainian attack last week on the bridge killed the parents of a 14-year-old girl.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Tuesday that Kyiv will continue to launch attacks on Crimea and the bridge.

The United States is sending up to $400 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, including a variety of munitions for advanced air defense systems and a number of small, surveillance Hornet drones, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn