Russian soldiers march during a military parade on Victory Day, marking the 76th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia May 9, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
LONDON, March 31 – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a decree ordering 134,500 new conscripts into the army as part of Russia’s annual spring draft, but the Defense Ministry said the draft had nothing to do with the war in Ukraine .
The order came five weeks after the Russian invasion, which has met stiff Ukrainian resistance. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that none of the conscripts would be sent to any “hot spots”.
The question of the involvement of conscripts in the war is highly sensitive. On March 9, the Defense Ministry acknowledged that some had been deployed to Ukraine, after Putin had denied this on separate occasions, saying only professional soldiers and officers had been deployed. read more
Putin’s spokesman said at the time that the president had ordered military prosecutors to investigate and punish the officials responsible for failing to follow his orders to bar conscripts.
The annual spring military conscription, which runs from April 1 to July 15, will affect Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27, Putin’s decree said.
Shoigu said Tuesday that conscripts would be sent to their assigned bases beginning in late May.
“Most military personnel are trained in training centers for three to five months. Let me stress that recruits are not sent to hotspots,” he said in a note published on his ministry’s website.
However, Mikhail Benyash, a lawyer representing several members of the Russian National Guard who have refused to go to Ukraine, said that under Russian law, conscripts could be sent to fight after several months of training.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what it described as a special military operation to demilitarize and “denazify” the country. The war has killed thousands and uprooted millions.
In recent days, Russia has reformulated its objectives, saying it never intends to take the capital Kyiv and other major cities, but is instead focusing on “liberating” the eastern areas where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian government since 2014 army fight.
His statements were met with skepticism by Ukraine and Western governments. Military analysts have suggested that the stated focus on the eastern Donbass region may be an attempt to make it easier for Putin to seek a face-saving exit.
Reporting by Reuters, edited by Mark Trevelyan