Russia is preparing to bolster its army with 134,500 new conscripted troops. The defense ministry claimed the draft has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine.
The conscription is part of an annual draft Russia has every spring, which usually begins on April 1. This year’s draft comes a little more than a month after Russian forces embarked on a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Fierce fighting by Ukrainians has prevented many victories for Russians, and reported losses are mounting. Despite the resistance, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the new conscripts will not be deployed to any “hot spots.”
“Most military personnel will undergo professional training in training centers for three to five months,” Shoigu said. “Let me emphasize that recruits will not be sent to any hot spots.”
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Russia’s Defense Ministry doesn’t have a good track record of keeping conscripts, as opposed to professional soldiers, out of fighting. Earlier this month, the ministry admitted it had sent conscripts into Ukraine as part of supply units. Ukrainian forces captured the conscripts, forcing Russia to admit its move.
“Unfortunately, we have discovered several facts of the presence of conscripts in units taking part in the special military operation in Ukraine,” the ministry said at the time. “Practically all such soldiers have been pulled out to Russia.”
Russia holds two semi-annual conscription drafts from October through December and again from April through July. Typically, the draft is for men ages 18 to 27, though boys as young as 16 can be drafted, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
The Defense Ministry conscripted roughly 261,000 men last year.
Conscripts’ basic training lasts for two months before another round of advanced training, which takes between three to six months. Russian law typically doesn’t allow conscripts to fight with fewer than four months of training.
As Russia reinforces its army with homegrown troops, it has also tried to recruit fighters from abroad. Earlier this month, unnamed U.S. officials said they believed Russia was calling on Syrian fighters to join the fight in Ukraine.
“We believe that the reports are accurate that the Russians are trying to recruit Syrians, in particular, to sign up and fight in Ukraine,” a senior defense official said earlier this month. “We find that noteworthy that he believes that he needs to rely on foreign fighters to supplement what is a very significant commitment of combat power inside Ukraine as it is.”
Last week, NATO officials said they believed Russia had lost nearly 20% of its fighters in Ukraine. The organization estimated Russian deaths to be between 7,000 and 15,000.
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U.S. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland said Russia’s “incredible losses” were due, in part, to its underestimating of Ukrainian forces.
“I think that, unfortunately, the Russians have not yet fully learned how tough the Ukrainian military is,” she said. “They are taking incredible losses on the Russian side — you know, by our estimates, more than 10,000 Russian dead.”
