Overview

• President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to conscript 135,000 men from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, calling up citizens aged 18 to 30 who are subject to service.
• This fall intake is the biggest since 2016, and together with the spring draft of about 160,000 makes 2025 the largest conscription year in nearly a decade.
• Russian officials say draftees serve one year on bases within Russia and are not sent to fight in Ukraine, though independent reports and Ukrainian claims dispute how strictly this is observed.
• The State Duma has advanced a bill in its first reading to shift to year‑round conscription starting in 2026, replacing the current biannual model if enacted.
• The Kremlin continues to pursue a larger force structure, with a stated goal of about 1.5 million active personnel by 2026 and a distinction maintained between routine conscription and wartime mobilization.