The Kremlin is considering adopting a bill that could stimulate the recruitment of volunteers for men aged 18 to 30. This is stated in the daily analysis of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), reports News.bg.
TASS reported on April 4 that it had received a copy of the recommendation of the Defense Committee of the State Duma of Russia, which proposes that the Duma deputies adopt an amendment to the federal law "On Military Duty and Military Service". Under the proposed amendment, Russian volunteers who have fought in Ukraine or possibly in the Kursk region for more than six months would be exempted from compulsory military service in Russia for men aged 18 to 30.
The committee supported an additional amendment that would exempt from military service Russian citizens who are not in the Russian reserve but are veterans of the armed forces, military formations and other bodies of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).
These changes may be part of the Kremlin's efforts to stimulate the recruitment of military personnel from a younger demographic, which would meet the immediate needs of the Russian army. The bills promise to prevent conscription for certain groups of citizens.
On April 7, TASS reported that the Russian Ministry of Justice had proposed a bill that includes amendments to the federal law "On Military Service and Military Duty". These changes would allow stateless persons to sign military contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD).
TASS reported that the proposed amendments have already been approved by key bodies such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Federal Penitentiary Service and the Ministry of Defense, as well as the Government Legislative Committee.
The Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, Vladimir Gruzdev, said that the bill would grant stateless persons who sign a military contract with the MOD the same rights and obligations as foreign citizens.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed decrees, including a March 20 decree that gives authorities the right to classify Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories as "foreigners" if they have not taken Russian citizenship. This would give Russia additional legal tools to force Ukrainians to serve in the Russian army.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov signed a decree creating mobile medical commissions to examine wounded servicemen on the front lines. The aim is to identify soldiers in need of treatment and rehabilitation. However, this could also be used as a tool to address long-standing problems related to the mistreatment of wounded servicemen.
On April 8, it became known that the Russian military command was forming a battalion of mobilized prisoners with incurable diseases for future attacks in the Zaporozhye direction. Ukrainian officials claim that the Russian military command is sending wounded and medically unfit soldiers on assaults to expose Ukrainian positions before better-trained Russian forces can attack.
The Kremlin appears to be trying to ease budget woes by centralizing control over medical examinations of wounded servicemen and possibly limiting the number of future veterans of the war in Ukraine who are eligible for state assistance.