JAKARTA - Russia's parliament approved a law on Wednesday twice as fast as removing the upper age limit for contract service in the military, amid the country's large number of troops in Ukraine.
Lawmakers in the lower house of the State Duma approved the bill in three readings in one session, with the upper house, the Federation Council, giving its approval soon after. The bill now only requires President Vladimir Putin's signature to become law.
"Today, in particular, we need to strengthen the armed forces and help the Ministry of Defence. Our Commander-in-Chief is doing everything to ensure that our armed forces win, and we need to help," said State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin.
Currently, only 18-40 year old Russians and 18-30 year old foreigners can enlist as professional soldiers in the Russian military.
It is known, Russian troops have suffered significant losses in heavy fighting in various regions of Ukraine.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on March 25, 1,351 Russian army personnel had been killed and 3,825 injured, since Moscow sent its armed forces to Ukraine on February 24, a month since the invasion. Since then, the ministry has not updated its casualty figures.
Both Ukrainian and Western intelligence officials say Russian losses in Ukraine were significantly higher at the time, and have risen sharply since March.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
