Russia To Raise Maximum Age For Compulsory Military Service

The bill comes as Moscow seeks to replenish its forces on the front line in Ukraine without resorting to another mobilisation -- a step the Kremlin took last September which proved unpopular.

Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed legislation increasing the maximum age limit for compulsory military service to 30, over a year into the Kremlin's Ukraine offensive.

The bill comes as Moscow seeks to replenish its forces on the front line in Ukraine without resorting to another mobilisation -- a step the Kremlin took last September which proved unpopular.

"From January 1, 2024, citizens aged 18 to 30 will be called up for military service," the lower house of parliament said after the bill was passed in a second and third reading.