News alert, Ukraine | Ukraine lowers the age limit – now these can be called to the front

Ukraine lowers the age from 27 to 25 for those who can be mobilized for the war, from 27 to 25, reports the Reuters news agency.

Thus, all Ukrainians between the ages of 25 and 60 can be called up for military service.

The new law was proposed in December and means that two new cohorts will be subject to military conscription.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told his press conference at the end of 2023 that the military had proposed mobilizing 450,000-500,000 more Ukrainians, but that it was a “very sensitive” issue that the military and the government would discuss before deciding to send the proposal to The Storting. Zelenskyj pointed out that this would cost around 500 billion hryvnia, equivalent to just over NOK 140 billion.

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Around 1 million soldiers

Ukraine’s former Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in the summer of 2022 that around 1 million people served in the Ukrainian security and defense sector.

Ever since Ukraine faced the first wave of attacks when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, it has been said that it is a war of attrition, and that the winner is whoever can best supply the forces with weapons and ammunition.

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New Russian soldiers

150,000 conscript Russians will be called up for compulsory military service this spring, according to a presidential order signed by Vladimir Putin. New batches of conscript Russians are called up every spring, which is also happening this year.

All Russian men over the age of 18 must serve in the country’s defense for one year, but can also be credited with one year of higher education.

The Lower House of the Russian National Assembly decided last July to raise the age limit for conscription from 27 to 30, and the new law came into force at the turn of the year.

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Many Russian men do their utmost to avoid conscription and therefore make sure to be unavailable when call-ups are sent out twice a year. Conscripts cannot serve outside Russia’s borders and were therefore not among the more than 300,000 who were mobilized for military service in Ukraine in 2022.

However, some conscripts were sent to the front in Ukraine by mistake. Last spring, 147,000 Russians were called up for military service, and in September, 130,000 conscripts were called up.