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Russian conscripts not taking part in Ukraine military operation, Kremlin assures

Russia’s spring army draft kicked off on April 1

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Russian conscripts are not involved in Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"As far as a new draft goes, all of us have already heard the statement by our military that this in no way pertains to the special military operation in Ukraine. Conscripts are not being sent there and are not being drawn into this operation," the Kremlin press secretary assured reporters.

One instance previously recorded "is under control of the Prosecutor General’s Office" on the instructions of the head of state," Peskov stressed.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov announced on March 9 that the ministry had uncovered several cases where conscripts were in Russian military units participating in Moscow’s special military operation on Ukrainian territory and at that time all of them were brought back to Russia.

The Kremlin spokesman said on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin had received a report on fulfilling his instruction to categorically exclude the use of conscripts for accomplishing missions as part of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. On Putin’s instruction, the relevant materials were sent to the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office to furnish a legal evaluation of such facts and hold officials liable for non-compliance.

Russia’s spring army draft kicked off on April 1. Under a decree by the Russian president, 134,500 conscripts will join the Russian Armed Forces this spring. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has affirmed that the conscripts will not be sent to hotspots, while all the conscripts from last year’s spring draft will be discharged from active duty once their military service term expires and sent home.