Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered 160 000 more Russian citizens to be conscripted into the army, on Monday, the 31st of March, citing the Russian news agency Interfax, reports Politico.
Russia is conscripting men aged between 18 and 30. The new order, which will come into force on the 1st of April and is to be implemented by the 15th of July, comes at a time when a ceasefire is being negotiated between Russia and Ukraine through the US.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claims that Russia is dragging its feet on the peace process and preparing a new large-scale offensive to seize more Ukrainian land before actual peace talks.
However, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was “pissed off” that Putin wanted to remove Zelenskyy from power so that a peace deal could be struck, but still believed that the Kremlin leader would stick to his word and that he wanted the war to end.
SOME CONSCRIPTS WILL ALSO BE DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY BECAUSE THEY HAVE SERVED THEIR TIME.
Independent Russian journalists have also managed to find and confirm the names of more than 100 000 Russian soldiers killed since Putin invaded Ukraine. But Kyiv claims that in total, by March, Russia’s losses are approaching a million dead and wounded.
Ukraine has lost more than 46 000 soldiers and more than 380 000 have been wounded, Zelenskyy said in February. Ukraine managed to improve its soldier survival rate in March, army chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday.
“We have modernised the [basic military training] course and increased its duration to 1.5 months, as well as introduced a mandatory adaptation period for new recruits in combat brigades. And this is yielding positive results – this month we recorded fewer casualties compared to previous months,” Syrskyi said.
However, Putin believes that his troops “will finish” the Ukrainian army, as the Kremlin leader said last week.
MEANWHILE, REUTERS REPORTS THAT AT A SUMMIT OF EUROPEAN OFFICIALS ON MONDAY IN BUCHA, ZELENSKYY CALLED FOR RUSSIA TO BE PUNISHED FOR MORE THAN 183 000 WAR CRIMES,
documented by Ukraine since Moscow’s invasion in 2022, saying justice was needed to prevent “the spread of evil”.
Russian troops are accused of atrocities including executions, rape and torture in Bucha, north-west of the Ukrainian capital. According to Oleksiy Khomenko, Acting Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Russian forces have committed more than 9 000 crimes in the Bucha area, including 1 800 murders. Russian troops fleeing the suburbs of Kyiv during the wider retreat left bodies lying in the streets.
Most of the war crimes cases against Russia are investigated by Ukraine and tried in local courts. The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which Ukraine formally joined this year, has also investigated high-profile cases.
Khomenko said on Monday that the Ukrainian authorities had so far indicted 178 people and convicted 21. He said Kyiv was continuing to cooperate with the ICC and 25 other countries conducting their own investigations.
“Ukraine will not stop on the way to bringing those responsible to justice,” Khomenko said.