Putin Announces Spring Conscription Drive

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the order for the country’s routine spring conscription drive, according to documents released on the Kremlin website on Sunday, March 31. The drive will call up 150,000 citizens for mandatory service, rising from last autumn’s drive for 130,000 and the previous spring’s planned 147,000. While not legally allowed to be deployed outside Russia’s borders, conscripted soldiers have been confirmed to be involved in Moscow’s war in Ukraine.