Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a law moving the military toward a year-round conscription model starting next year, amid the Kremlin’s efforts to expand manpower for its war in Ukraine.
The new law, which does not change the biannual nature of the draft, allows draft boards to conduct medical exams, psychological screening and other enlistment steps at any time.
Conscripts will still be sent off to service between April 1-July 15 and Oct. 1-Dec. 31.
The law sets a 30-day expiration date for electronic draft notices, replacing the previous unlimited time span. Military authorities explained that this would prevent draft boards from holding men in limbo by keeping them on notice for months without deployment.
Supporters of the reform say it is designed to ease the administrative burden on military recruitment offices and better distribute workload across the year.
The new system will supposedly improve the quality of conscription and reduce bottlenecks during the bi-annual surge.
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