The Russians Want To Lift The Army Age Limit. Soldiers Over The Age Of 40 Could Also Be Permitted To Fight

Russia wants to lift the age limit for voluntary entry into the army. At the moment, Russian citizens can participate in military service if they are between 18 and 40 years old, foreigners between 18 and 30 years old.

The development of the war in Ukraine, where the British Intelligence services estimate that the Russians have lost more than a third of their ground forces, is now forcing members of the Russian parliament to amend the "Law on Military Duty and Military Service", specifically the upper age limit.

A bill that would abolish the upper age limit for adults to finish their contracted military service has been submitted in Russia's State Duma. This would let people serve in the Russian army for longer and at an older age.#Russia | #RussianArmyhttps://t.co/4NS308fx8P

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) May 20, 2022

A proposal to lift the age limit for voluntary entry into the army has already been submitted to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. The State Duma informed about the proposal on its official website.

"Highly professional specialists are needed to use high-precision weapons and operate weapons and military equipment. Experience shows that people aged 40-45 years old could be what we need,” explains the bill. It follows that the main reason why the law was introduced is the fact that today, the members of the military achieve specialisation later, than they did in the past.

In addition, this document assumes that the abolition of the age limit will attract the necessary specialists to the military service, especially from the ranks of Russian citizens, especially in the field of medical security, engineering units, technical support, but also in other areas.

Although the drafters of the law do not mention the war in Ukraine among the official reasons for the abolition of the age limit, Russia, according to Western countries, has been facing declining morale among its troops and heavy losses since the beginning of the invasion.

Estimates say that the Russians have already lost a third of their invading ground forces, but President Vladimir Putin has not announced a general mobilisation of the population yet. Abolishing the upper age limit for military service could therefore be a way to recruit more troops without the need for mobilization.