Russia President Putin Calls On 160,000 Men To Join Military

The current draft will take place between April and July. It comes despite U.S. attempts to forge a ceasefire in the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on 160,000 men aged 18 to 30, the highest number of recruits since 2011.

Those included are being called to serve a year in the military. The move comes after Putin said Russia should increase the overall size of its military to almost 2.39 million and its number of active service-men to 1.5 million. That aims to see a rise of 180,000 over the next three years.

The new drafted militants will reportedly not be sent to fight in Ukraine to participate in what Russia calls its “special military operation.” However, there have been reports of recruits being killed fighting in Russia’s border regions after they were sent to fight in Ukraine.

The current draft will take place between April and July. It comes despite U.S. attempts to forge a ceasefire in the war.