Putin orders 135,000 men to join the military in largest fall draft in nine years

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 135,000 men to be conscripted into the army, the largest autumn draft held by the Kremlin in nine years.

“From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, conscript 135,000 Russian citizens aged 18 to 30 who are not in the reserve and are subject to enlistment into military service,” the decree states, according to the TASS state-owned news agency.

Vladimir Tsimlyansky, head of the Russian General Staff’s mobilization department, has also insisted that the conscripted soldiers will not be deployed to the forces currently invading Ukraine, a promise Moscow has been previously accused of breaking.

The latest order also calls on federal agencies to organize the conscription of federal employees, as well as workers from subordinate organizations.

Russia holds conscription drives twice a year in the spring and fall, with last autumn’s drive bringing in about 133,000 soldiers.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, the Russian military has averaged about 127,000 new conscripts every fall. Earlier this year, Russia recruited 160,000 soldiers during the spring draft cycle.

Despite the Kremlin’s promises that conscripts won’t be deployed to fight in Ukraine, where hundreds of Russian soldiers die every week, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly claimed that conscripts have been captured along the frontlines.

The conscriptions comes as part of Putin’s demands that the Russian military expand to a force of 1.5 million active personnel by 2026, up from around 1 million.

To meet Putin’s decree, Moscow passed a bill last week set to eliminate the bi-annual conscription orders and replace them with a year-round draft to bolster Russia’s military.

In the more than three years since Russia mounted its assault on Ukraine, Moscow has suffered nearly 1 million casualties, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank.

The CSIS estimates that about a fourth of the casualties include soldiers killed in battle, which is about five times greater than all the losses faced in the previous Soviet and Russian wars since World War II combined.