Russia increases conscription age from 27 to 30 to meet troop targets

Russia has raised the maximum age men can be conscripted from 27 to 30 as it looks to fill its ranks for the war with Ukraine.

Last year, Russia announced a plan to boost its professional and conscripted combat personnel by more than 30% to 1.5 million, a task made even harder by the heavy casualties suffered in Ukraine.

The legislation was passed by the Russian lower house this week and will become law on January 1.

The bill still needs to be approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin but this is seen as a formality.

It will require all men aged from 18-30 to carry out a year of military service.

The law also bans men from leaving Russia from the day they are summoned to a conscription office.

In April, legislation was passed allowing conscription summonses to be served online instead of in person.

The new law increased the fine for failing to turn up at an enlistment office 10 fold, from 3,000 (£25.80) rubles to 30,000 (£258).

Compulsory military service has long been a sensitive issue in Russia, where many men go to great lengths to avoid being handed conscription papers during the twice-yearly call-up periods.

Conscripts cannot legally be deployed to fight outside Russia and were in theory exempted from a limited mobilisation last autumn that gathered at least 300,000 men with previous military training to fight in Ukraine - although some conscripts were sent to the front in error.

However, Russia unilaterally claimed four Ukrainian regions as its own last September, in a move not recognised internationally, fuelling fears that raw conscripts could now legally be sent into battle.

Separately, the legislation passed on Tuesday gives Russian governors the power to set up regional paramilitary units during periods of mobilisation or martial law.

These units would be funded and armed by the state and given the right to shoot down drones, fight enemy sabotage groups and conduct counter-terrorism operations.

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