Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree ordering the conscription of 133,000 citizens for statutory military service as part of the country's routine autumn conscription campaign.
The decree, posted on the Kremlin's website, marks another step to bolster Russia's military as it continues its offensive in Ukraine.
The conscription, which requires all men in Russia aged 18 and older to serve one year in the military, will begin on October 1.
The compulsory conscription covers all parts of the Russian Federation, according to the defense ministry, including in the illegally annexed regions of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said Monday.
Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were formally annexed by Russia in September 2022 after so-called referendums were held there, which were universally dismissed as shams by Ukraine and Western nations. Russia had annexed Crimea in 2014.
This move comes two weeks after Putin ordered an expansion of Russia’s armed forces, increasing the regular size of the army by 180,000 troops, bringing the total number of active servicemen to 1.5 million.
The overall size of the Russian military, including support personnel, is now set to reach 2.38 million, making it one of the largest military forces globally, second only to China.
