MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an annual executive order launching the fall conscription of Russian citizens, according to the document published on the official website of legal information.

"The conscription for military service of citizens of the Russian Federation aged 18 to 27, who are not in the reserve and are eligible <...> for conscription for military service, shall be conducted from October 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, numbering 130,000 people," the document says.

This spring, 147,000 people were called up for military service, and last fall the number was 120,000. In recent years, each routine conscription has involved an average of 130,000 people.

This August, a law was passed that raises the upper draft age limit from 27 to 30, but the changes will take effect on January 1, 2024, so this year’s conscription campaign will remain unchanged.

Military conscription is a regular practice in Russia, based on the Law ‘On Military Duty and Service in the Armed Forces’ signed by then Russian President Boris Yeltsin on March 28, 1998. Under the law, male citizens aged 18 to 27 must serve a 12-month term in the military.

Every year, there are two times when Russian citizens can be drafted to the Russian Armed Forces - from April 1 to July 15 (spring conscription) and from October 1 to December 31 (fall call-up). A special decree on the draft is issued twice a year by the Russian president, who is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. In the executive order dated September 30, 2022, the conscription campaign was postponed for the first time by a month - until November 1.