MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Andrey Kartapolov, chair of the Defense Committee in the State Duma, or lower house of Russia’s parliament, expects that a bill to raise the conscription age to 21 will be adopted during the Duma’s spring session, although this year’s spring and autumn call-up will still take place under the current rules.
"We will adopt it during the spring session," the legislator told TASS on Monday, answering a relevant question.
Initially, when the bill was being drafted, there were no plans to change the spring call-up in any way this year, he stressed. "Now, together with our colleagues from the Defense Ministry, we have come to the conclusion that it would be better if the draft came into effect exactly on January 1, 2024. This year, the military draft will take place according to the previous rules," Kartapolov said.
"The local draft boards need [the time] this year to clarify their draft resources, update their lists, and ask potential conscripts to verify their data," he explained.