Putin orders conscription of 133,000 servicemen in Russia’s autumn draft

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the conscription of 133,000 new servicemen in Russia's autumn draft that starts on 1 October and goes until the end of the year, according to a Kremlin decree published on Monday (1 October).

The decree, published in Russian state-run newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, calls to carry out the draft of citizens "aged 18 to 30 years, who are not in the reserve and are subject to conscription in accordance with the Federal Law ... in the amount of 133,000 people."

The head of Russia's conscription office, Vice-Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky said that the terms for the conscript remain the same: 12-month service in military units in Russia.

"I would like to note that conscripts will not be called up to participate in the special military operation in the new regions," Rossiyskaya Gazeta cited Tsimlyansky as saying.

Russia calls its war in Ukraine, which it started with a full-scale invasion in February 2022, a special military operation. Kyiv and its allies call it an unprovoked, imperialistic attempt to grab land.

In a move condemned by most of the Western world, Russia annexed parts of southeastern Ukraine in late 2022, calling the land 'new regions.'

Citing growing threats on Russia's western borders, Putin in September ordered the Russian army to be increased by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million active servicemen, a move that would make it the second largest in the world after China's.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, U.S. President Joe Biden and other NATO leaders have blamed Putin for being the sole aggressor in the conflict in Ukraine and posing threats to other of its neighbours.

Zelenskyy admits difficulties

Ukraine’s President said on Monday that the situation on the front line of the war against Russia was "very, very difficult," and Ukraine's forces had to do everything they could over the autumn period.

"Reports on each of our frontline sectors, our capabilities, our future capabilities and our specific tasks: The situation is very, very difficult," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, referring to a more than 2-1/2 hour meeting with top commanders.

"Everything that can be done this autumn, everything that we can achieve must be achieved," he said.

It was the second time in less than a week that Zelenskyy referred to the need to act quickly in the coming months in terms of military action.

Ukrainian military bloggers have reported in recent days that Russian forces have been advancing on the hilltop town of Vuhledar, which Ukrainian forces have defended over the course of the war, in the south of the Donetsk region.

Russian forces have also been advancing slowly for months further north, with the aim of capturing the entire Donbas region, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)