MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - The phased increase in the draft age in Russia will not apply to the spring 2023 draft, State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrei Kartapolov said.
"The bill on the phased change to the age of conscription absolutely cannot apply to the spring draft, as the upcoming draft will be carried out according to the current norms and regulations laid down by current laws, so no one should worry about this," Kartapolov told Interfax on Thursday.
The State Duma plans to discuss the bill after April 17 and to approve it during the spring session, he said.
"The bill was submitted in mid-March. However, this is a challenging bill, considering that we need to hear the opinions of all interested federal executive agencies, and therefore have mailed it out. Opinions are due to be given by April 15," he said.
Once opinions are provided, the text will be prepared for its first reading, Kartapolov said. "We will propose that the bill be discussed as a whole during the spring session," he said.
The bill, which will gradually raise the draft age in Russia from 2024, was submitted for the State Duma's consideration on March 13.
According to the bill, males aged from 18 to 30 registered with military enlistment and registration offices, or not registered but required to be registered and not designated as reservists, may be drafted for military service.
The bill sets the age of conscription between 19 and 30 (from January 1 through December 31, 2024), from 20 to 30 (from January 1 through December 31, 2025), and from 21 to 30 (from January 1, 2026).
It is also planned that Federal Law No. 53 will be supplemented with a clause that men older than 18 who express a wish to join the Armed Forces before conscription age after January 1, 2024, and submit corresponding applications to a conscription commission may be drafted for military service.
State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrei Kartapolov, his first deputy Andrei Krasov and deputy Yury Shvytkin are the bill's authors.
The bill is due to take effect on January 1, 2024.