MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. A third of spring draft conscripts will be sent to training centers to gain special military skills, Deputy Chief of the Russian General Staff’s Main Organizational and Mobilization Department Vice Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky said on Monday.
"A third of the conscripts will be sent to training military units and formations where within a term of up to five months they will learn to operate modern military hardware and get a military specialty. Upon the completion of the training, they will be sent to troops in compliance with the skills they have gained," the defense official said in the wake of the spring army draft beginning from April 1 in Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to call up 160,000 conscripts for military service in the spring campaign, according to the document published on Monday.
"To call up 160,000 Russian citizens aged 18-30 for military service who are not in reserve and are subject to army draft from April 1 to July 15, 2025," the decree says.
Last year, Russia’s spring military campaign involved 150,000 conscripts compared to 147,000 in 2023 and 134,500 in 2022. The growth is attributed to the implementation of Putin’s decrees on the stage-by-stage increase in the size of the Russian army.
The Russian army comprised about 1 million service members in early 2022. During three years, the Russian army’s numerical strength was raised to 1.5 million service members.